Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he will take to ensure that people paid weekly do not lose universal credit entitlements in months that contain five Fridays.

Damian Hinds: No one on Universal Credit, who are weekly paid, will see a drop in their total income from earnings and benefits in any assessment period with 5 paydays in it. In contrast because of the way UC works in 5 payday assessment periods, the total income a claimant will receive in that month will always be higher, whether their UC is reduced or extinguished For example if someone is weekly paid at a rate of £200, and has a gross UC entitlement of £1400 a month their total UC entitlement (assuming no work allowance) is £896 a month and £800 from earnings. Total income in the month, benefits and earnings of £1696. In a five payday month their earnings rise to £1000, UC falls to £770. Total income from benefits and earnings £1770. For someone on higher earnings of £450 a week, with the same UC gross entitlement of £1400 will receive in a four payday month earnings of £1800 and UC of £266 a month with a total monthly income of £2066. In a five week month their total earnings rise to £2250, UC entitlement zero but total income in that month is higher than in the four payday month. Everyone who is weekly paid will have a higher income in the 5 payday month, either through a combination of UC and earnings or on straight earnings. The UC taper ensure that people keep every pound of their earnings, with only a 63% reduction in UC entitlement. This is how the system works and how we make work pay. Media reports to the contrary were wrong, misleading and alarmist for UC claimants and I welcome the opportunity to put the record straight.

Funeral Payments

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received on concern about the adequacy of the funeral fund to cover basic funeral costs; and whether he plans change to that fund.

Caroline Dinenage: DWP have advertised 1,053 External Vacancies since January 2015 containing 21,432 posts. The breakdown provided by Government Recruitment Services is provided as requested overleaf. It is worth considering these vacancies are not guaranteed to have been filled. These are the vacancies we advertised. Not all roles advertised were filled and therefore this data will include repeat adverts.  MonthNumber of VacanciesNumber of Posts AdvertisedJan-158214Feb-1515353Mar-15960Apr-15862May-151354Jun-1520311Jul-1515326Aug-15261698Sep-15151479Oct-1513469Nov-1528397Dec-1514239Jan-1614290Feb-16471274Mar-16502107Apr-16741309May-1631500Jun-16581081Jul-1626214Aug-1634804Sep-16611251Oct-1650542Nov-1634567Dec-16548Jan-171011540Feb-1735483Mar-1717131Apr-17422May-1742891Jun-17641238Jul-1724433Aug-1721243Sep-171866Oct-1730605Nov-1729131Total105321432

Unemployment

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,  what steps he is taking to reduce the time unemployed people spend out of work.

Damian Hinds: The number of unemployed is currently 1.42m, down 59,000 this quarter, down 182,000 on the year, down over 1.08 million since 2010. Jobcentre Plus has a flexible support model to provide support and District Managers have discretion on how to target interventions. The model has three elements: a core regime of regular face-to-face meetings; flexible work coach support; and a flexible menu of support options. Where Jobcentre Plus District Managers identify gaps in skills or other provision they have discretion to purchase extra support to meet particular needs using the Flexible Support Fund. Jobcentre Plus work coaches can advise claimants on the localised provision and support available, either by employment sector or skills/employability.

Employment and Support Allowance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reimburse claimants of Employment and Support Allowance who were subject to payment miscalculations between 2011 and 2015 when those people were moved from incapacity benefit and if he will make a statement.

Sarah Newton: We are aware that some individuals have been underpaid when moving to Employment and Support Allowance. The department has started to put this right and will bring these plans to parliament.

Farms: Safety

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps he has taken to promote safety for those who visit, work and live on farms.

Sarah Newton: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for enforcement of health and safety legislation on farms in Great Britain (GB). On 15 September 2017 HSE published its sector action plan for agriculture, setting out actions HSE will take to promote farm safety (http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/strategiesandplans/sector-plans/agriculture.htm). HSE is currently running a programme of Safety and Health Awareness Days (SHADs) for farmers across GB (http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/diary.htm) and is undertaking a targeted inspection campaign focussing on agriculture as set out in HSE’s 2017/18 Business Plan (http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/strategiesandplans/businessplans/plan1718.pdf). Working with HSE, Local Authorities carry out visits to open farms and animal visitor attractions to deal with matters of visitor safety in relation to infection risks (http://www.hse.gov.uk/lau/activities.pdf). HSE also works closely with industry stakeholders, through GB’s Farm Safety Partnerships, to promote and support their activities to improve health and safety in farming.

Department for Work and Pensions: Vacancies

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many vacancies there were in his Department in each month since January 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: DWP have advertised 1,053 External Vacancies since January 2015 containing 21,432 posts. The breakdown provided by Government Recruitment Services is provided as requested below. It is worth considering these vacancies are not guaranteed to have been filled. These are the vacancies we advertised. Not all roles advertised were filled and therefore this data will include repeat adverts.  MonthNumber of VacanciesNumber of Posts AdvertisedJan-158214Feb-1515353Mar-15960Apr-15862May-151354Jun-1520311Jul-1515326Aug-15261,698Sep-15151,479Oct-1513469Nov-1528397Dec-1514239Jan-1614290Feb-16471,274Mar-16502,107Apr-16741,309May-1631500Jun-16581,081Jul-1626214Aug-1634804Sep-16611,251Oct-1650542Nov-1634567Dec-16548Jan-171011,540Feb-1735483Mar-1717131Apr-17422May-1742891Jun-17641,238Jul-1724433Aug-1721243Sep-171866Oct-1730605Nov-1729131Total1,05321,432

Home Office

MI5

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much MI5 spent from the public purse on sponsorship of the National Diversity Awards 2017; and how many full-time equivalent MI5 staff worked on that project.

Mr Ben  Wallace: Any law enforcement or intelligence agency must represent the diverse communities it serves, to enable them to gather the intelligence they need to keep us all safe. Diversity is therefore recognised as a crucial component of the intelligence agencies’ workforce. The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament recognised as much when they carried out an inquiry on Parliament’s behalf into women in the intelligence agencies. It has been the longstanding policy of successive Governments not to reveal details of the budgets or spending of the intelligence agencies. Statutory oversight for this is provided by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Grenfell Tower fire survivors have been granted (a) limited leave to remain in the UK and (b) permanent residence.

Brandon Lewis: The dedicated Grenfell immigration policy is a targeted scheme that we expect to benefit a limited number of people. We have plans to publish statistics on the Grenfell immigration policy in due course and will not be providing updates on numbers in the meantime.

Immigration Controls: Australasia

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2017 to Question 8860, whether her Department has discussed with the Australian Government the operation of e-passport gates in that country for nationals of designated countries.

Brandon Lewis: We engage regularly with our international partners to share ideas and learn from their approaches to border control. However the Australian Government is responsible for the policies relating to the usage of their e-passport gates, just as the UK determines the policies for our own e-passport gates.

Immigration

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Government has made of provision of discretionary leave to remain for survivors of modern slavery identified in the UK.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has plans to protect the right to work for victims of modern slavery identified in the UK?

Brandon Lewis: There is no right to work in the UK based on a person being confirmed as a victim of modern slavery. A person’s immigration status will determine whether a person has the right to work in the UK. Confirmed victims of modern slavery who do not qualify for leave to remain in another immigration route can be considered for a grant of Discretionary Leave to remain in the UK based on the particular circumstances of the individual case. This can include needing to stay in the UK in order to pursue a claim for compensation against their traffickers, the need to assist with police enquiries or due to personal circumstances. Those granted Discretionary Leave have recourse to public funds and permission to work. Not all victims of modern slavery will wish to remain in the UK and so the Government is also committed to supporting those who wish to return home. The Home Office’s Voluntary Returns Service can assist victims of modern slavery to return home. The Home Office has recently produced a leaflet to raise awareness about immigration options for victims of modern slavery which can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/help-for-adult-victims-of-modern-slavery

Members: Correspondence

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason her Department has not yet responded to the correspondence from the hon Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber in relation to Mr Shamus Ud Din.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office replied to the letter from the Hon Member about Mr Shamus Ud Din on 22 November. Your MP Account Manager has supplied a further copy of this reply to your office on the 23 November.

Immigrants; English Language

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons independent experts have not been appointed to review Tests of English for International Communication cases.

Brandon Lewis: Evidence given to the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into English Language Testing provides details of the methods through which the validity of TOEIC were determined and the subsequent reports into those methods. A link to the evidence given to the inquiry is provided here:http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/inquiries/parliament-2015/inquiry3/

Immigrants: English Language

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tests of English for International Communication cases have not yet been received.

Brandon Lewis: Evidence given to the Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into English Language Testing provides information on the number of tests affectedhttp://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/inquiries/parliament-2015/inquiry3/ Additionally, UKVI transparency data provides details of refusal, curtailments and removal decisions in response to the abuse of secure English language testing. A link to the most recent available data is provided here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/temporary-and-permanent-migration-data-february-2017 The table in SELT_02 is the closest match to the information requested.The data was last published in February 2017 and only contains data to the last quarter (December 2016). ETS data is no longer published after this date.

Immigrants: English Language

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Test of English for International Communication cases resulted in people being deported.

Brandon Lewis: UKVI transparency data provides details of refusal, curtailments and removal decisions in response to the abuse of secure English language testing. A link to the most recent available data is provided here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/temporary-and-permanent-migration-data-february-2017 The table in SELT_02 is the closest match to the information requested. The data was last published in February 2017 and only contains data to the last quarter (December 2016). ETS data is no longer published after this date.

Refugees: Disability

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of disabled refugees who have claimed asylum in the UK in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: This data could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Asylum: Sudan

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, will she list how many Darfur asylum seekers have been (a) granted and (b) refused leave to remain for each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Brandon Lewis: Published data relating to the outcomes of asylum claims from each country (including Sudan) can be found in tab as_01 at volume 1 of the quarterly Immigration Statistics release:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2017-data-tables

Marriage Certificates

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officials in her Departmental are working on (a) administrative, (c) technical and (c) legislative tasks relating proposals to include a mother's name and details on marriage certificates.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office has a number of officials who are working, or have worked, on proposals to include mothers’ names on marriage certificates. This work forms just part of these officials' wider responsibilities.

Marriage Certificates

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how many and (b) which computer systems will need to be altered to allow mothers names and details to be given on marriage certificates.

Brandon Lewis: All marriage registrations in England and Wales are recorded on a computer system that is used by registration officers administrating the registration service. Changes would need to be made to this system to allow mothers names and details to be recorded. This can only be achieved once the necessary legislation is in place.

Marriage Certificates

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which acts of Parliament need to be amended in order to allow mothers' names and details to be given on marriage certificates.

Brandon Lewis: Any change to the content of the marriage entry to include mothers’ names would ideally also bring forward reform to how marriages are registered to introduce efficiencies and create a more secure system for the maintenance of marriage records. To introduce such reform would require changes to primary legislation, in particular the Marriage Act 1949, and associated regulations. We continue to look for opportunities to introduce the legislative change required.

Immigration: Biometrics

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds data on biometric resident permit cards that have required revision due to errors in England.

Brandon Lewis: This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

British Nationality

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessments her Department has made of what changes may be required to the process of obtaining British citizenship for those with permanent residency status in the UK once the UK has left the EU.

Brandon Lewis: EU nationals and their family members are already required to meet the same statutory requirements as non-EU nationals when seeking to naturalise as British citizens. This includes a requirement, amongst others, to demonstrate that they are free from any immigration restriction on the period for which they might remain in the UK.

Asylum: Children

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2017 to Question 113318, whether her Department collected data on the number of people aged 18 to 25 who applied for asylum as unaccompanied children and were then served with removal directions in previous years.

Brandon Lewis: Service of Removal Directions to adult failed asylum seekers does not take into consideration whether the individuals were former unaccompanied asylum seeking children. Published Stats on Returns (vol 2) includes returns by age, gender and nationality and can be found in the following table.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2017/list-of-tables#returns

Northern Ireland Office

Magilligan Prison

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether work is continuing on preparations to rebuild HM Prison Magilligan.

James Brokenshire: Responsibility for prisons in Northern Ireland are primarily a devolved area. Under the devolution of policing and justice in 2010, the Department of Justice (DoJ) is solely responsible for management of the prison estate.

British Irish Council

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the operation of the British-Irish Council forum for consultation and co-operation will be in the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive.

James Brokenshire: The Government is fully committed to the British Irish Council as a forum to maintain and strengthen relations between member administrations. At the recent meeting of the British Irish Council on 9 and 10 November 2017, Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the Council and its role in promoting harmonious and mutually beneficial relationships across these islands as set out in the 1998 Belfast Agreement. The Council agreed that political developments across Member Administrations underlined the importance of this unique forum to share views and strengthen relationships. The Council looked forward to the restoration of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland as soon as possible. This remains the Government’s priority.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Olympic Games 2012

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much Olympic legacy funding has been disbursed in respect of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell; and if she will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch: Government’s strategy ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for An Active Nation’ and Sport England’s strategy ‘Towards an Active Nation’ highlight the importance of focusing on groups that are particularly unlikely to take part in sport and physical activity, such as women and girls and some Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups. It places a clear emphasis on putting the customer first and there are some innovative programmes to encourage female and BAME participation in sport, such as the This Girl Can Swim campaign. But as the Government’s sport strategy makes clear, participation is not just about playing sport, and the "Sports Governance Code", launched in October 2016, seeks to ensure the very highest standards of governance across all sport bodies that receive public money, including in terms of diversity, and aims to help the sport sector to be more inclusive and welcoming to all. If sports bodies do not adhere to the code and cannot demonstrate full commitment to becoming compliant with its requirements they will not be eligible to receive public funding.

Sports: EU Grants and Loans

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much (a) funding in total UK sports have received from the EU in each of the last 10 years and (b) funding for infrastructure assistance, such as artificial pitches.

Tracey Crouch: UK organisations have been able to access EU funding for sports projects since 2014, through Erasmus+. Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe, and runs from 2014-2020. Its focus is on educational mobility and exchange projects, and it does not provide assistance for infrastructure projects. Erasmus+ has seen UK-led sports partnerships allocated around €4m between 2014-16. Sport England received £42,843 in 2014-15 and £33,440 in 2015-16 from Erasmus+ for activity in support of the European Week of Sport.

European Capital of Culture

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Istanbul's being the European Capital of Culture in 2010, whether she plans to appeal the European Commission decision to withdraw the UK from the European Capital of Culture competition.

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the European Commission on the decision to discontinue participation of the UK in the European Capital of Culture competition.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her department is negotiating with the European Commission on its reversing the decision that the UK cannot participate in the European Capital of Culture 2023.

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what representations she has made to the European Commission on its decision to exclude (a) Leeds and (b) other UK cities from bidding for the European Capital of Culture 2023.

John Glen: The European Commission wrote to the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 22 November 2017. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library. The five candidate cities were informed of the European Commission’s decision on 23 November 2017.

Licensed Premises

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government intends to assess the importance of the night-time economy to regional economies.

Matt Hancock: We recognise the significant contribution that the night-time industries can make to regional economies. Accessible culture is integral to this, so we have: revised entertainment licensing and planning to make it easier for music and cultural venues to operate and; ensured that public arts funding supports community organisations and Creative Industry tax reliefs promote the development of new cultural endeavours across the UK. As announced in the budget, DCMS will invest £2 million, to support the role culture can play in regeneration and local growth.

Mass Media: Internet

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has commissioned research on the prevalence of so-called fake news across social media and other internet platforms

Matt Hancock: The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has not commissioned any research on the prevalence of fake news across online platforms including social media. However as part of our Digital Charter we are looking at the role that such platforms play in the news environment.

Gaming Machines

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will place in the Library an estimate of the fiscal impact of each of the options in the Consultation on Changes to Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures?

Tracey Crouch: On 31 October the Government published the Consultation on Proposals to Changes to Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, together with its impact assessment. The Consultation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures As policy develops in this area, DCMS will work closely with HM Treasury to establish the fiscal effect.

European Capital of Culture

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on what date her Department received notification of the European Commission's decision to discontinue participation of the UK in the European Capital of Culture competition.

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what representations her Department has received from the European Commission on the reasons for its decision to withdraw the UK entry for the European Capital of Culture in 2023.

John Glen: The European Commission wrote to the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 22 November 2017. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library. The five candidate cities were informed of the European Commission’s decision on 23 November 2017.

European Capital of Culture

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much participating cities have spent on their bids to be European City of Culture 2023.

John Glen: The information requested is not held by Government.

Arts: EU Grants and Loans

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if it is her Department's policy that the UK should continue to pay in and be a member of the Creative Europe programme once the UK has left the EU.

Matt Hancock: We remain committed to supporting the UK creative industries and are consulting closely with stakeholders to ensure that any ongoing funding commitments best serve the UK's national interest. The Prime Minister made clear in her speech in Florence that, where possible, and where they are greatly to the UK and EU's joint advantage, we will want to continue taking part in specific policies and programmes like Creative Europe.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2017 to Question 109191, on Big Ben: iron and steel, whether the Government plans to extend the provisions of the Social Value Act 2012 to ensure that central government contracts have an area of interest defined as the UK.

Tracey Crouch: The Office for Civil Society is responsible for Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. Currently there are no plans to extend the reach of the act, but we are taking steps to encourage uptake and will invite input on the topic of social value as part of the Civil Society Strategy announced last week.

Department of Health

Self-harm and Suicide: Kent

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the rates of (a) suicide and (b) self-harm in West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group in each (i) 2005, (ii) 2009, (iii) 2010, (iv) 2015 and (v) 2017.

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he as made of the rates of (a) suicide and (b) self-harm in Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley Clinical Commissioning Group in (i) 2005, (ii) 2009, (iii) 2010, (iv) 2015 and (v) 2017.

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the rates of (a) suicide and (b) self-harm rates in West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group for people aged (i) 11 to 18, (ii) 19 to 24 years old, and (iii) over 25 years old.

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of rates of (a) suicide and (b) self-harm rates in Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley Clinical Commissioning Group for people aged (i) 11 to 18, (ii) 19 to 24, and (iii) over 25 years old.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information is not available in the format requested.

Self-harm and Suicide: Young People

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the rates of (a) suicide and (b) self-harm for people aged 11 to 18 years old in (i) England and (ii) Kent in (A) 2005, (B) 2009, (C) 2010 and (D) 2015.

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the rates of (a) suicide and (b) self-harm for people aged 19 to 24 years old in (i) England and (ii) Kent in (A) 2005, (B) 2009, (C) 2010 and (D) 2015.

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the rates of (a) suicide and (b) self-harm for people over 25 years old in (i) England and (ii) Kent in (A) 2005, (B) 2009, (C) 2010 and (D) 2015.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information is not available in the format requested. Data is not collected on rates of self-harm either nationally or by local area.

Contraceptives

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many training sessions for Long-Acting Reversible Contraception have been provided to General Practitioners in each year since 2009-10.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of general practitioners were qualified to provide long-acting reversible contraception in each year from 2009-10.

Steve Brine: This information is not collected centrally.

Contraceptives

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time for appointments for contraceptive advice at sexual and reproductive health services in each local authority was in England in each year since 2009-10; and what steps he is taking to reduce those waiting times.

Steve Brine: Information on waiting times for appointments for contraceptive advice at sexual and reproductive health services is not collected centrally. Public Health England (PHE) published an action plan in August 2017 to address concerns identified in their report entitled Sexual health, reproductive health and HIV: a review of commissioning, which is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/640578/Sexual_health_reproductive_health_and_HIV_a_survey_of_commissioning.pdfAs part of the action plan, PHE will take forward a range of activities aimed at strengthening commissioning, including providing evidence and data to commissioners to support commissioning, and the monitoring of outcomes and building capacity and capability in sexual and reproductive health commissioning.

Contraceptives

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much NHS England provided to GP surgeries to fund contraceptive services in each year since 2009-10; and what the average waiting time to access GP contraceptive services was in each of those years.

Steve Brine: This information is not collected centrally.

Contraceptives

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve co-ordination of local-authority-provided sexual and reproductive health services, clinical commissioning group-commissioned abortion services and NHS England-funded contraceptive services funded under GP contracts.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) published an action plan in August 2017 to address concerns identified in their report entitled Sexual health, reproductive health and HIV: a review of commissioning, which is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/640578/Sexual_health_reproductive_health_and_HIV_a_survey_of_commissioning.pdfAs part of the action plan, PHE will take forward a range of activities aimed at strengthening commissioning, including providing evidence and data to commissioners to support commissioning, and the monitoring of outcomes and building capacity and capability in sexual and reproductive health commissioning.

General Practitioners: Finance

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made changes to the level of income of GP practices as a result of patients enrolling in the GP at Hand service.

Steve Brine: Patients have the ability to change the general practitioner (GP) surgery they are registered with and since January 2015 all GP practices in England have had the option to register patients that live outside their practice boundary area. Hammersmith and Fulham Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England recognise the need to ensure general practice is stable and sustainable. The roll-out and impact of GP at Hand will be monitored and evaluated.

GP at Hand

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of patients have enrolled in the GP at Hand service in the areas that the service has been rolled out.

Steve Brine: According to NHS England, about 5,000 patients have registered with GP at Hand. This is a very small proportion of the population that GP at Hand have made their service available to which comprises of anyone that lives or works within London travel zones 1 to 3.

General Practitioners: Finance

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to provide support to GP practices that are affected by the roll-out of GP at Hand service.

Steve Brine: Hammersmith and Fulham Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England recognise the need to ensure that general practice is stable and sustainable. The roll-out and impact of GP at Hand will be monitored and evaluated.

GP at Hand

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how her Department will monitor the (a) quality, (b) cost and (c) effect of the GP at Hand Service.

Steve Brine: The Hammersmith and Fulham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) primary care commissioning committee has asked that a robust evaluation is carried out of the development following the clinical review. In addition, an oversight group has been set up with representation from the CCG and NHS England London region which will monitor progress on a regular basis.

Health Services and Social Services

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of health and social care integration at a local level.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to support local authorities to integrate health and social care.

Steve Brine: In March 2017, the Department of Health and the Department for Communities and Local Government, working with the Local Government Association, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and NHS England, published the Integration and Better Care Fund Policy Framework 2017-19. The document includes the policy framework for the implementation of the Better Care Fund (BCF), which is the first national, mandatory integration policy. The BCF has helped to join-up health and care services so people can manage their own health and wellbeing, and live independently in their communities for as long as possible. In both 2015-16 and 2016-17, local areas voluntarily pooled more than the minimum required taking the total to £5.3 billion and £5.9 billion respectively. The Policy Framework also sets out our proposals for going beyond the BCF towards further integration, including that areas will be allowed to ‘graduate’ once they have demonstrated that they have moved beyond the requirements of BCF reporting and are exemplars of integration. To help local areas understand whether they are meeting our integration ambition, we are developing integration metrics for assessing process, particularly at the interface where health and social care interact. The Department is working with the Social Care Institute for Excellence to better understand ‘what good looks like’ in integrated care and how we could develop a more balanced set of measures of success in this area.

Social Services

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment the Government has made of the capacity of local authorities to implement the prevention duty under the provisions of the Care Act 2014.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has prioritised prevention and through the Care Act 2014 it requires local authorities to provide or arrange for the provision of services, facilities or resources that will contribute towards preventing, delaying or reducing the needs for care and support of adults and carers. For 2017/18, the Department has provided £7.274 million funding to the Local Government Association to provide sector led improvement support to councils. This includes support to help councils meet their prevention responsibilities. The programme is focusing on building leadership capacity and capability on integration and providing evidence-based decision-making in prevention and early intervention.

Grenfell Tower: Mental Health Services

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment has been made of the mental health support needs of survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire; and what additional resources have been provided to fund this support.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have received (a) mental health support, (b) bereavement counselling and (c) trauma counselling; how many survivors had to wait more than four weeks to receive (i) mental health support, (ii) bereavement counselling and (iii) trauma counselling; and how many individuals are on waiting lists for (A) mental health support, (B) bereavement counselling and (C) trauma counselling.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Mental health support for people affected by the Grenfell Tower fire has been co-ordinated by West London Clinical Commissioning Group and Central and North West London (CNWL) Foundation Trust. Since August a proactive ‘screen and treat’ programme has been underway to support individuals in the local area potentially affected by the fire. Latest data provided by West London Clinical Commissioning Group details that 767 adults identified as having an urgent need have been screened to date. The programme will reach up to 23,000 people in the area who may have a need for treatment. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea have commissioned Cruse Bereavement Support to provide support to bereaved families. There are currently 357 adults in treatment for mental health conditions and 38 adults have completed treatment. In addition 162 children and young people have been referred into Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to date. Local children’s services are also conducting screening and treatment. At present there are 51 children receiving specialist care, and 22 of these children have completed their treatment. Information on waiting times for these services is not collected centrally. Emotional support is being provided by Hestia, a well-established local care provider. Hestia is providing outreach and intervention capacity to support to those in need of emotional support. This provision includes a wide range of drop-in support, psychological first aid, counselling and support groups which can be accessed by anyone in the local community. At night Hestia are based in a number of hotels with the most Grenfell residents and will contact CNWL if more significant needs are identified. Mental health support by the National Health Service is being funded from existing budgets. Future NHS funding for Grenfell mental health support will have to be met from local budgets. NHS England will need to consider budget allocation to CNWL in light of the additional demands on services post Grenfell. The Chancellor indicated in the Budget statement of 22 November that the Government will provide £28 million for Kensington and Chelsea council to provide counselling services and mental health support for victims of the Grenfell fire and for regeneration of surrounding area.

Grenfell Tower: Mental Health Services

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mental health support and counselling has been (a) offered and (b) provided to emergency workers who were present at the Grenfell Tower fire.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Emergency workers present at the Grenfell fire were offered support via London Fire Brigade Counselling and Wellbeing team and other internal employee assistance programmes. Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust has indicated they will be seen quickly and offered assessment and treatment if approached.

Prisons: Drugs

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Project NEPTUNE in prisons.

Jackie Doyle-Price: No such assessment has been made. NHS England is currently revising the National Substance Misuse Specification which will be published in December 2017. The Project NEPTUNE clinical guidance will be referenced within the specification.

Prisoners: Drugs

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prisoners have been identified as suffering a drug-induced psychosis in prison in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Prisoners: Drugs

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many emergency callouts for prisoners suffering the effects of drug usage there have been (a) in each prison and (b) broken down by primary healthcare provider in each year since 2010.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on how many occasions emergency services have attended prisoners affected by illegal drug use by (a) prison and (b) primary healthcare provider in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is not collected centrally. In February 2013, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) (now HM Prison and Probation Service) issued guidance to prisons and immigration removal centres operated by NOMS concerning emergency ambulance call-outs. This guidance, Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 03/2013 Medical Emergency Response Codes outlines the medical symptoms in a prisoner, but not behaviours such as drug misuse, for which a prison must always call out an emergency ambulance. This PSI is mandatory in all prisons in England.

Prisons: Drugs

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prisons use the National Early Warning Score to respond to symptoms of new psychoactive substances.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of use of the National Early Warning Score in prisons in Liverpool.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Information is not collected centrally on how many prisons use the National Early Warning Score to respond to symptoms of new psychoactive substances. The Government has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of the use of the National Early Warning Score in prisons in Liverpool.

Health: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what date he expects the National Study of Health and Well-being: Children and Young People to be published.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has commissioned a new prevalence survey of children and young people’s mental health. The survey is due to be published in autumn 2018. It will estimate prevalence of mental ill health in 2-19 year olds, as well as consider impact of social media, cyberbullying, self-harm and eating disorders.

Pregnancy: Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2017 to Question 112698, and with reference to the Answer of 16 January 2017 to Question 60196, whether his Department has recently stopped holding data on available perinatal beds in an annual format.

Mr Philip Dunne: The earlier answer to Question 60196 provided the number of in-patient perinatal mental health beds whereas my answer to the hon. Member’s Question 112698 provided information about the number of maternity beds. NHS England’s specialised commissioning function continues to hold information on the numbers of in-patient perinatal mother and baby beds as part of its normal commissioning practice with providers. The following table shows the numbers of commissioned mother and baby beds for each year since 2013/14: YearCommissioned beds (England)2013/141102014/151102015/161122016/17120 Mother and baby beds are commissioned by NHS England (Specialised Services), which came into existence in April 2013. As such, robust data are only available from 2013/14.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November to Question 112701, on mental health services: children and young people, whether the money underspent in the Future in Mind programme from (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17 will be added to the budgets for (i) 2017-18 (ii) 2018-19 and (iii) 2019-20.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government sets annual funding limits for the National Health Service in the Government Mandate for the NHS, along with clear expectations on use of that funding and that the NHS budget will balance in every year. It is for local decision makers to ensure the best use of that funding within those expectations, during any given year. As an exception, a commitment has been made to allow for underspends in the Future in Mind budget in 2015-16 to be added to future years’ NHS budgets.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children in England (a) were referred to CAMHS and (b) completed treatment through CAMHS in each of the last three years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not held in the format requested.

Autism

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children in England have been diagnosed with autism in each of the last three years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Information on the number of children diagnosed with autism each year is not collected centrally.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Business: Local Government

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2017 to Question 107986, whether the Government provides any guidance to local authorities on assessing the effect of local council business support programmes.

Claire Perry: Local and combined authorities are responsible for evaluating any business support programmes they deliver and reporting on outcomes to funders. Government has therefore given local and combined authorities more powers and autonomy to decide how to spend public money in their area and for deciding how the impact of locally owned business support programmes should be assessed. At the same time, Government has made local and combined authorities more transparent and accountable for their actions. The hon. Member might also like to note that we fund the What Works Centre (WWC) for Local Economic Growth. The Centre assesses business support, and provides a range of resources to help local government assess the impact of their business support programmes.

Lithium: Mining

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he will consider the mining of Lithium in Cornwall as part of the industrial strategy.

Claire Perry: Our Industrial Strategy is about driving growth right across the whole country. We will work with places to build on their particular strengths and to address barriers to growth. The Government is aware that Cornwall has been identified as a having potentially valuable lithium resource, which is a key element in battery technology. That technology has great potential, which we are backing with £246m through a Faraday Challenge to boost expertise in the UK. The current exploration for lithium ore reserves and research to extract lithium from geothermal brines has potential to provide a UK source, though it is for the private sector to demonstrate there are commercial opportunities and this sort of opportunity, clearly linked to a location, underpins the department’s local industrial strategy policy.

Antidumping Duties

Gareth Snell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for International Trade and (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential effect of adopting the lesser duty rule as part of a future trade remedy scheme once the UK leaves the EU.

Margot James: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regularly discusses trade policy issues with his colleagues. The Trade White Paper, published 9 October, set out the Government’s proposals for an independent UK trade remedy scheme once we have left the EU. Our policy is for the amount of any duties to be set at the lower of either: the level of the dumping or subsidy; or the level of injury caused to a UK industry as identified during the investigation process. This approach is known as the lesser duty rule. The Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Bill, introduced on 20 November, included provisions to apply the lesser duty rule where remedies are recommended to address injury caused by dumping or subsidies.

Electricity Generation: Waste

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much electricity was generated by incineration in (a) 2015 and (b) 2016; and how much CO2 or CO2e, CO2 equivalent, was emitted by incinerators in each of those years.

Richard Harrington: Table 6.4 in the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES) [i] shows electricity generation from renewable sources. Figures for generation from waste in 2015 and 2016 are shown below:Generation (GWh) 20152016Biodegradable energy from waste (1)2,5852,741Non-biodegradable wastes (2)2,5862,742Total waste5,1715,482 (1) Biodegradable part only.(2) Non-biodegradable part of municipal solid waste plus waste tyres, hospital waste and general industrial waste. The latest greenhouse gas emissions inventory, published in February 2017, estimates that emissions from incineration plants were 3.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2015. Figures for 2016 will be published in February 2018.  [i]  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

EU Grants and Loans

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy what plans the Government has made on its plans for a UK Shared Prosperity Fund; what the Government's planned timeframe is for (a) the whole introduction of the fund and (b) introducing draft legislation; what he plans the scope of that fund will be; and what consultation and input in plans to seek from the devolved administrations on that fund.

Margot James: The Government will create the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to boost productivity and reduce economic inequality across the country following our departure from the European Union. As announced in the Industrial Strategy white paper, the Government will consult widely on the design of the new Fund in 2018. We will work with devolved administrations prior to public consultation.

Climate Change Convention

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to continue to participate in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change when the UK leaves the EU.

Claire Perry: The UK is a world leader in climate change and has always been a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) individually as well as through the EU and we are bound by all the obligations of the Paris Agreement under international law. The UK’s commitment to action to tackle climate change and to the UNFCCC process is not in doubt; we remain firmly committed to the Paris Agreement and to our emissions reduction and climate finance efforts under it. We have demonstrated our commitment domestically – we were the first country to introduce legally binding emissions reduction targets through the Climate Change Act, and we have recently published our highly praised Clean Growth Strategy, which is ambitious and robust in setting out how we will decarbonise the UK economy through the 2020s. The UK is also committed to phasing out unabated coal power generation by 2025, and at the recent twenty-third Conference of the Parties (COP23) the UK, joint with Canada, announced the Powering Past Coal Alliance which gained the support of more than 20 partners. Internationally, through our International Climate Finance we have committed to provide at least £5.8bn between 2016 and 2020 to developing countries, to help them mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Whatever the nature of the future UK-EU relationship, the UK will remain committed to international efforts to tackle climate change, and working closely with the EU will remain very important.

Industry: North East

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to paragraph 4.7 of the Autumn Budget 2017, how much of the additional funding in the modern Industrial Strategy will be allocated on projects in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, and (c) the North East.

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to paragraph 4.41 of the Autumn Budget 2017, how much of the additional public investment in economic infrastructure his Department plans to allocate to projects in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, and (c) the North East.

Claire Perry: The Government is committed to providing high quality infrastructure to support economic growth and prosperity across all regions of the UK. We will ensure our infrastructure investments actively support our long-term productivity, providing greater certainty and clear strategic direction.The Transforming Cities Fund will provide £1.7bn to drive productivity by improving connectivity, reducing congestion and utilising new mobility services and technology, transform local productivity in city-regions.We have already seen investment for projects for the North East that include:increasing national research and development spending to 2.4 per cent, boosting the North East’s strength in research and innovation815,000 people living and working in the North of Tyne will benefit from an ambitious devolution deal agreed between the government and the North of Tyne authorities. This includes a new £600 million long-term investment fund over the next thirty years to be spent on local priorities, such as skills and employment, adult education, and rural productivity.a £337 million investment to support a transformative modernisation programme to replace the Tyne & Wear Metro system’s 40-year old trains with a brand-new fleet. This will help to ensure that the Metro system is reliable, runs efficiently, and helps local people get to where they need to be.the Tees Valley Combined Authority will receive £59 million from a new £1.7 billion Cities Transformation Fund. Funding will be invested in transport projects which drive productivity by improving connectivity and reducing congestion.as announced at Budget, the government is investing £123 million to support the safe development of the Redcar steelworks site in the Tees Valley. Mayor Ben Houchen will set up a Mayoral Development Corporation and use this funding to drive forward an ambitious programme of regeneration for the area.The North East has already benefitted from Industrial Strategy funding when the International Centre for Life in Newcastle benefitted from a £13 million funding pot aimed at encouraging more of the public to engage with STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) learning. The money will enable the centre to reinvigorate its visitor experience and develop new STEM learning activities.

Productivity: North East

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to paragraph 4.54 of the Autumn Budget 2017, how the Government plans to increase the productivity levels of the North East in its upcoming Industrial Strategy.

Claire Perry: Local industrial strategies will identify local strengths, future opportunities and the action needed in each area to boost productivity and competiveness, based on rigorous analysis.Through our Industrial Strategy, we will make sure that we are using all the tools we have to stimulate growth in places such as the North East. This includes through the North East LEP Growth Deal which is supporting jobs growth and economic development with £379.6m of Local Growth Fund. The North East LEP estimates that their Growth Deal will lead to the creation of 8,000 jobs.Whilst it is not region specific the North East can take advantage of the further investment of £725m in a second wave of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund across the UK to respond to some of the greatest global challenges and opportunities and support sector productivity. We will also increase the National Productivity Investment Fund, by £8bn taking it to £31bn and extending to 2022-23. This will support investments in transport, housing and digital infrastructure. In addition: 815,000 people living and working in the North of Tyne will benefit from an ambitious devolution deal agreed between the government and the North of Tyne authorities. This includes a new £600 million long-term investment fund over the next thirty years to be spent on local priorities, such as skills and employment, adult education, and rural productivity.Increasing national research and development spending to 2.4 per cent, boosting the North East’s strength in research and innovation The Tees Valley Combined Authority will receive £59 million from a new £1.7 billion Cities Transformation Fund. Funding will be invested in transport projects which drive productivity by improving connectivity and reducing congestion.

Foreign Companies

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plans to respond to consultation on Property ownership and public contracting by overseas companies and legal entities: beneficial ownership register.

Margot James: The responses to the call for evidence are currently being analysed and a response will be published in due course.

Combined Heat and Power: Non-domestic Rates

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of gas CHP plant qualifies as Good Quality for the purposes of exemption from business rates.

Claire Perry: The Department does not hold specific data on the proportion of gas CHP plant that qualifies as Good Quality for the purposes of exemption from business rates. However, in 2016, based on data from the Digest of UK Energy Statistics and the Combined Heat and the Power Quality Assurance (CHP QA) programme database, there were 2,182 CHP schemes in the United Kingdom. Of these, 1,155 were certified as Good Quality CHP. If schemes that are not ordinarily liable for business rates, such as those in the public sector, are excluded then our data suggests that 749 Good Quality gas CHP schemes would be eligible for an exemption from business rates.

Coal: Mining

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on the development of new domestic coal mines and reducing fossil fuel usage; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: Domestic coal production fell to a record low of 4 million tonnes in 2016. The development of any new domestic coal mines is subject to the relevant planning consents, which include appropriate environmental impact and public safety assessments.Around two-thirds of demand for coal in 2016 was for electricity generation, which has also fallen to record lows. The Government has made firm its commitment ending unabated coal power generation by 2025 and to target an effective carbon price ahead of then, to drive investment in cleaner, more flexible forms of generation.

Ministry of Defence

Royal Air Force Centre of Aviation Medicine

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the (a) location and (b) establishment by rank of the Royal Air Force Centre of Aviation Medicine.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Royal Air Force Centre of Aviation Medicine is based at RAF Henlow. The establishment by rank is as follows: NumberRank~Air Commodore~Group Captain10Wing Commander10Squadron Leader10Junior Officers~Warrant Officer10Chief Technician/Flight Sergeant20Sergeant30Corporal10Senior & Leading Aircraftsman Due to the small populations generated by this level of detail and the possibility of identifying individual personnel, data has been rounded to 10. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. “ ~ ” denotes a number less than or equal to 5.

Ministry of Defence: Postal Services

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what security measures his Department has in place relating to the receipt by his Department of incoming post and parcels; and what discussions he has had with the British Forces Postal Office on providing such services.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: All mail received by the British Forces Postal Office (BFPO) is screened for potential security threats. These security measures are reviewed annually.The BFPO screens mail to international security standards assured by the Civil Aviation Authority.No discussions between Ministers and BFPO about security measures have taken place.

Islamic State: British Nationals Abroad

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures are in place to determine whether British-born ISIS combatants have surrendered following the fall of Mosul and Raqqa.

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures are in place to determine whether any British-born ISIS combatants have surrendered as a result of the fall of Mosul and Raqqa.

Mark Lancaster: The surrender of Daesh fighters in Iraq and Syria - no matter what their nationality - is a matter for local Iraqi Forces or Syrian Democratic Forces operating on the ground. If a British national is detained in Iraq, we would expect to be notified by the Iraqi authorities. The UK has no diplomatic representation in Syria and all consular services are suspended. As a result, we are unable to confirm the status of British nationals in Syria.

Military Exercises

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Departmental guidance or regulations stipulate a requirement to take temperature readings using a (a) mobile phone or (b) car thermostat prior to (i) commencing (ii) continuing an exercise, training, or selection test; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Current Departmental guidance or regulations do not stipulate the use of a mobile phone or car thermostat. This is because the risk of heat illness is not just from still air temperature (as measured by a thermometer). Humidity and wind effects also need to be factored in to give a more accurate predictor of risk.

Military Exercises

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Departmental guidance allows exercise, training or selection events to take place in high temperatures where a wetbulb globe temperature reading is not available; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Departmental guidance does not preclude events taking place in high temperatures where a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature index reading is not available. However, the Commander must assess the risks (in accordance with the guidance), reduce them to as low as reasonably practicable and then decide if the risk is acceptable.

Military Exercises

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether an exercise, selection or training event would be cancelled in the event that some participants collapsed from heat exhaustion; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Current Departmental guidance calls for an activity to be 'paused' when a participant is known to be suffering from heat exhaustion to allow time to assess the participant and the risk to all other participants. If others are deemed to be at risk, further control measures should be considered, including stopping the activity.

Clyde Naval Base

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse of the Government's planned nuclear infrastructure projects at Faslane and Coulport will be.

Harriett Baldwin: I refer the hon. member to the answer I gave on 21 November 2017, to Question 112912 to the hon. Member for Leeds North East (Fabian Hamilton).



112912 - Nuclear Weapons: Scotland
(Word Document, 12.76 KB)

Clyde Naval Base

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what projects and programmes he plans to expand nuclear infrastructure at Faslane and Coulport.

Harriett Baldwin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 November 2017, to Question 112913, to the hon. Member for Leeds North East (Fabian Hamilton).



112913 - Nuclear Weapons: Scotland
(Word Document, 12.75 KB)

Clyde Naval Base

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether expenditure for planned nuclear infrastructure projects at Faslane and Coulport will be allocated from the budget for Trident.

Harriett Baldwin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 November 2017 to Question 112914 to the hon. Member for Leeds North East (Fabian Hamilton).



112914 - Nuclear Weapons: Scotland
(Word Document, 12.69 KB)

Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish recent reports of the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the safety of the trident nuclear weapons system; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 November 2017 to Questions 112915 and 113221 to the hon. Member for Leeds North East (Fabian Hamilton).



112915 - WQnA extract on Trident
(Word Document, 15.04 KB)

National Security

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish the findings of the national security capability review.

Gavin Williamson: The National Security Capability Review is being conducted by the National Security Adviser, with individual strands taken forward by cross-departmental teams. Defence is one strand of the overall work programme. Any decisions on whether, when or to what extent the conclusions of this work are made public are for Ministers to decide.

Trident

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the (a) safety, (b) affordability and (c) strategic relevance of the trident nuclear weapons system will be considered as part of the national security capability review.

Harriett Baldwin: On 18 July 2016, Parliament decisively supported our commitment to maintain the UK's independent nuclear deterrent. That decision has been taken, and it is not under consideration as part of the National Security Capability Review.

Trident

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to reduce defence expenditure in some areas to pay for the cost of trident replacement.

Harriett Baldwin: The Dreadnought submarine replacement programme remains within its budget and will provide the ultimate guarantee of our national security.

Army

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members there were of each Regiment of the British Army on 1st November 2017.

Mark Lancaster: The number of personnel within each Army Arm/Corps as at 1 October 2017, latest available figures, is shown below:Arm/ServiceTotalRegularsArmy Future Reserves 20Staff860 710140Household Cavalry/ Royal Armoured Corps6,540 4,9501,590Royal Regiment of Artillery8,450 6,2402,210Royal Engineers11,350 8,3702,980Royal Corps of Signals8,730 6,8201,910Infantry29,050 21,4707,580Army Air Corps2,170 1,740430Royal Army Chaplains' Department200 13060Royal Logistic Corps16,790 11,7505,040Royal Army Medical Corps6,100 3,3902,710Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers10,140 8,4401,700Adjutant General's Corps7,020 5,6401,390Royal Army Veterinary Corps480 360120Small Arms School Corps150 15010Royal Army Dental Corps300 24060Intelligence Corps3,120 1,7901,330Royal Army Physical Training Corps470 44030Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps1,690 950740Corps of Army Music770 770-Senior Soldier Continuity Posts230 230-General Service Corps/ General List830 650180Others - --Officer Training Corps110 -110 Data Source Def Stat (Army) 01 October 2017Notes:Those figures marked ‘Regulars’ include Regulars, Gurkha’s, Full Time Reserve Service Full Commitment (FTRS (FC)) (excluding Lead First).Those figures marked ‘Army Future Reserves 20’ include volunteer reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserves and those volunteer reserves serving on Full Time Reserve Service and Additional Duties Commitment. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included.Figures are for both untrained and trained strength.For the purpose of this answer, FTRS have not been double counted in both FR20 and Full Time Strength and are within the FR20 column.All Officers of Paid Rank Colonel and above are included in Staff, regardless of previous Arm/Service.For presentation purpose, figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.Totals have been rounded separately and so may not appear to be the sum of their parts.“-” denotes zero or rounded to zero.

Army: Recruitment

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, How many new recruits have joined each regiment of the British Army in 2017.

Mark Lancaster: The following table shows the number of Untrained Regular, Gurkha’s and Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) Intake of each Army Arm/Corps from 1 January 2017 to  30 September 2017.  Arm/ServiceRegularsArmy Future Reserves 20Staff--Household Cavalry/ Royal Armoured Corps340110Royal Regiment of Artillery420150Corps of Royal Engineers560150Royal Corps of Signals260120Infantry1,820700Army Air Corps6020Royal Army Chaplains' Department10-Royal Logistic Corps790270Royal Army Medical Corps250230Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers580120Adjutant General's Corps19090Royal Army Veterinary Corps2020Royal Army Dental Corps10-Intelligence Corps40110Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps3050Corps of Army Music30-General Service Corps/ General List59030Officer Training Corps-40   Notes:Those figures marked ‘Regulars’ include Regulars and Gurkha’s untrained intake. Full Time Reserve Service (Full Commitment) (FTRS (FC)) population have not been included in the figures as they must be trained on starting their FTRS engagement and have previous service within the Armed Force. Those figures marked ‘Army Future Reserves 20’ (FR20) include volunteer reserves that are mobilised, High Readiness Reserves and those volunteer reserves serving on Full Time Reserve Service and Additional Duties Commitment. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included. Personnel who transferred between the untrained Regular populations and the untrained FR20 populations are included in the inflow figures. Intake to untrained FR20 populations could include personnel coming from any other reserve population not included in the FR20. Regular officers (excluding Professionally Qualified Officers) join the Army as Officer Cadets in the General Service Corps. Professionally Qualified Officers (PQO) commission on entry to the appropriate Regiment/Arm/Service on enlistment. All Officers of Paid Rank Colonel and above are included in Staff, regardless of late Arm/Service. Figures are for untrained intake from 1st Jan 2017 to 30th Sept 2017, who inflow to Phase 1 training, as well as those who direct entry into Phase 2 Training upon joining the Army. For presentation purpose, figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not appear to be the sum of their parts. “-” denotes zero or rounded to zero.

Army: Resignations

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the British Army have left each regiment in 2017.

Mark Lancaster: The information to answer this question will take time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

Islands: Hurricanes and Tornadoes

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has received from the Department for International Development for its operation in support of hurricane hit islands in 2017.

Mark Lancaster: The detailed costs of the Defence response to hurricanes Irma and Maria are being compiled and will be reported on in due course.The Ministry of Defence will recover the majority of its additional costs from the cross-Government Immediate Response fund established for the relief effort. Any additional costs will be funded from the Deployed Military Assistance Pool, which exists to support unforeseen short term military activity.The cross-Government fund includes contributions from the Conflict Security and Stabilisation Fund, Department for International Development and the Treasury Reserve.

Defence Equipment: Repairs and Maintenance

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has his Department made of the potential merits of the use of 3D printing for equipment maintenance for operations.

Harriett Baldwin: The impact of 3D Printing on defence is being studied thoroughly, through research programmes, international collaboration and trials. Areas of study include the potential impact on logistics, in-field repair, reducing equipment development times and enhancing the performance of defence components.

Ministry of Defence: Public Expenditure

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the losses and special payments made by his Department in the 2017-18 financial year to date

Gavin Williamson: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Department for Communities and Local Government: Postal Services

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what security measures his Department has in place relating to the receipt by his Department of incoming post and parcels; and what discussions he has had with the British Forces Postal Office on providing such services.

Mr Marcus Jones: My Department follows guidance issued by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure for establishing secure postal monitoring services. We have had no discussions with the British Forces Postal Office on providing screening mail services.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 5 September 2017, Official Report, column 78, what steps his Department has taken to establish a family bereavement centre for families affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

Alok Sharma: The Family and Friends Assistance Centre is a centre for bereaved families providing them with access to professional support from a multi-disciplinary team and space to spend time together. The centre has been operational since the immediate days following the fire, overseen initially by the Grenfell Response Team and then the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council. Confidential rooms provide a comfortable environment with staff on hand to provide support and advice.The Centre recently moved to new long-term premises and services include emotional support and counselling; NHS Post Traumatic Stress Disorder support; financial advice by the Red Cross and support from specialist keyworkers, Family Liaison Officers and Victim Support. The Senior Investigatory Officer from the Metropolitan Police Service also attends the Centre to provide a link to the ongoing police investigation.The Grenfell Tower Inquiry will be engaging with bereaved families at the Centre, explaining processes and answering queries.At the Autumn Budget the Government announced £28 Million to enable the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council to support the victims and communities. This includes £3 million towards the operating costs of the Friends and Family Assistance Centre for the next three years

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many families affected by the Grenfell Tower fire have a key worker; and how many families each such key worker is responsible for.

Alok Sharma: As of the 21 November there are 155 keyworkers providing support to 508 families affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

Housing Estates: Regeneration

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funds his Department has provided to local authorities and housing associations to support estate regeneration since June 2017.

Alok Sharma: The Estate Regeneration Programme is currently supporting and working with over 100 estates across the country.The programme has been allocated £722 million of loans and grants to accelerate schemes at the early stages of regeneration, build access to commercial skills and provide long term finance for estate regeneration.

Fireworks: Accidents

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) people and (b) animals injured in incidents involving fireworks during November in each of the last five years.

Jake Berry: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold data for people or animals injured in incidents involving fireworks.

Religious Hatred: Islam

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the Tell MAMA Annual Report for 2016 on Anti-Muslim Hatred; and what steps his Department plans to take to address the increase in the proportion of directly abusive and violent anti-Muslim incidents.

Mr Marcus Jones: We take hate crime in all its forms very seriously that is why the United Kingdom has some of the strongest hate crime legislation in the world. The increase in hate crime reported to Tell Mama in part reflects a greater encouragement and confidence around reporting as well as an increasing number of data sharing agreements with police forces.Nevertheless, it is deplorable that any Muslim citizens should be subjected to abuse on account of their belief or appearance.My Department works with Muslim communities through our anti-Muslim-hatred working group to address the problem of hate crime and to encourage greater reporting.

Local Government: Procurement

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of local authority cash spend in England on (a) general goods and services, (b) social care and (c) construction works  was won by firms registered in England in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of capital contacts worth more than (a) £100,000, (b) £250,000, (c) £500,000 and (d) £1 million was won by firms registered in England in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect data on the amount or proportion of local government procurement going to companies registered in England.

HM Treasury

Treasury: Postal Services

James Gray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what security measures his Department has in place relating to the receipt by his Department of incoming post and parcels; and what discussions he has had with the British Forces Postal Office on providing such services.

Andrew Jones: The department’s mail is initially scanned offsite for suspect content, before being delivered by private delivery service to our offices. We have had no discussion with BFPO on providing such services.

Roadchef: Employee Benefit Trusts

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on repayment of monies held by HM Revenue and Customs to the Roadchef Employees Benefit Trust.

Mel Stride: The Government receives representations on a wide range of issues. It is not normal practice to release details of representations regarding specific cases.

Employee Benefit Trusts: Regulation

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the regulation of employee benefit trusts with reference to representations made on behalf of the Roadchef Employees Benefit Trust.

Mel Stride: I refer the Hon Member to my written answer of 5 July 2017 (UIN 1465).

Tax Collection

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will issue guidance to HM Revenue and Customs on unjust enrichment as a result of the case of the Roadchef Employees Benefit Trust.

Mel Stride: The administration of the tax system, including where appropriate the repayment of tax or duties, is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs. It would not be appropriate for Treasury Ministers to become involved in specific cases.

Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people who pay higher-rate income tax in the last five years.

Mel Stride: Estimates of the number of taxpayers by marginal tax rate are published in National Statistics table 3.4, which is part of HMRC’s Personal Incomes Statistics collection. The latest available tax year is 2014-15. Tables for tax years 2010-11 to 2014‑15 can be found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-tax-liabilities-of-starting-savers-basic-and-higher-rate-taxpayers-by-largest-source-of-income-2010-to-2011 For convenience, the numbers of individuals for each of the five years have been collated in the table below: Tax YearTotal number of taxpayers (thousands)Higher rateAdditional rate2010-113,0202362011-123,5702622012-133,7202732013-144,2003112014-154,300328Notes on the tableCounts of individuals are rounded to the nearest thousand and to three significant figures.Counts of individuals liable at the Higher marginal rate excludes those liable at the Additional rate, which are therefore shown separately.Marginal tax rate is the rate paid on the last unit of income. These estimates are based on the annual Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI). For more information about the SPI, please refer to:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-incomes-statistics

Emergency Services: Scotland

Alan Brown: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings he has had with the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock to discuss a VAT exemption for police and fires services in Scotland; and when those meetings took place.

Alan Brown: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings he has had with the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan to discuss a VAT exemption for police and fires services in Scotland; and when those meetings took place.

Alan Brown: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings he has had with the hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway to discuss a VAT exemption for police and fires services in Scotland; and what the dates of those meetings were.

Alan Brown: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings he has had with the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire to discuss a VAT exemption for police and fires services in Scotland; and when those meetings took place.

Alan Brown: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings he has had with the hon. Member for Moray to discuss a VAT exemption for police and fires services in Scotland; and when those meetings took place.

Mel Stride: Government ministers regularly meet with Members of Parliament to discuss policy issues.

Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3.5 of the Autumn Budget 2017, what estimate he has made of the number of taxpayers in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England who will benefit from the increase of the personal allowance and higher rate threshold.

Mel Stride: The Government is increasing the income tax personal allowance and higher rate threshold to £11,850 and £46,350 respectively in 2018-19, as set out in paragraph 3.5 of the Autumn Budget 2017. In England, government increases to the PA and HRT will have lifted around 986,000 people out of income tax altogether in 2018-19 compared to 2015-16, and 26.1m people will have gained by an average of £195. In the North East of England, government increases to the PA and HRT will have lifted around 52,000 people out of income tax altogether in 2018-19 compared to 2015-16, and 1.2m people will have gained by an average of £185. HM Treasury does not publish this information at district or constituency level.

Research and Development Expenditure Credit

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3.26 of the Autumn Budget 2017, what estimate the Government has made of the number of businesses that will benefit from the increase in R&D expenditure credit in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England.

Mel Stride: The number of businesses registered in (a) Jarrow constituency and (b) South Tyneside which claim the R&D expenditure credit (RDEC) cannot be disclosed for reasons of taxpayer confidentiality. The estimated numbers of businesses registered in (c) the North East and (d) England which claimed RDEC in 2015-16 are published in Table RD5 of the R&D Tax Credits National Statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/corporate-tax-research-and-development-tax-credit These statistics also show the estimated number of businesses which claimed under the large company scheme that has now been replaced by RDEC.

Financial Services

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to promote the UK as a global financial centre?

Stephen Barclay: The UK is home to the world’s preeminent financial centre. In addition to our natural advantages, such as a central time zone and the English language, we have strengths across all the major sectors – banking, asset management, and insurance – alongside a globally respected regulatory system, and world-class legal and professional services. The government is committed to further enhancing this position, as well as strengthening the UK’s already world-leading positions in the markets of the future, whether in FinTech, green and sustainable finance, or rupee and renminbi products. In addition, the government maintains an open and constructive dialogue with the financial services sector. This includes through the Financial Services Trade and Investment Board, which is tasked with boosting and promoting the competitive position of UK financial services. The UK also holds a number of annual Economic and Financial Dialogues (EFD) with key emerging markets, such as the UK-Brazil EFD last held in July, the UK-China EFD taking place this December, and the UK-India EFD which will take place again next year. These EFDs are Chancellor led Treasury to Treasury dialogues, aimed at increasing financial cooperation and establishing the UK as the partner of choice for priority overseas markets.

Financial Services: EU Law

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the extent to which the UK will be able to influence detailed regulation being developed from the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II implements commitments made by the G20 in 2009 in light of the financial crisis. The UK achieved its key objectives in negotiations for MiFID II, which introduces changes that are necessary to support the effective functioning of financial markets. The detailed regulations under MiFID II, which take the form of delegated acts and regulatory technical standards, are largely complete ahead of their application on 3 January 2018. The UK authorities have been fully engaged in their development. The Chancellor has no plans to make a specific statement at this time.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people eligible for tax-free childcare earn (a) less than £10,000, (b) £10,001 to £19,999, (c) £20,000 to £29,999, (d) £30,000 to £39,999, (e) £40,000 to £49,999, (f) 50,000 to 59,999, (g) 60,000 to £69,999, (h) £70,000 to £79,999, (i) £80,000 to £89,999 and (j) £90,000 to £100,000.

Lucy Powell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many households eligible for tax-free childcare are on incomes of (a) less than £19,999, (b) £20,000 to £39,999, (c) £40,000 to £59,999, (d) £60,000 to 79,999, (e) £80,000 to 99,999, (f) £100,000 to £119,999, (g) £120,000 to £139,999, (h) £140,000 to £159,999, (i) £160,000 to 179,999, and (j) £180,000 to £200,000.

Elizabeth Truss: The income critiera for Tax-Free Childcare is that parents (and their partner if they have one) earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours per week at national living wage, and less than £100,000 per annum, and not be claiming tax credits or Universal Credit.

Unionlearn

Paula Sherriff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Autumn Budget 2017, paragraph 4.23, how much financial support will be provided to Unionlearn in the next two years.

Elizabeth Truss: As announced in the Autumn Budget, the government will provide £8.5 million over the next two years to support Unionlearn. This additional funding will bring the total government investment in Unionlearn to £12 million per year for the next two years.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November to Question 113353, whether there has been no change in the number of tax-free childcare accounts since 16 October 2017.

Elizabeth Truss: As of 24 November there were live Tax-Free Childcare accounts for approximately 170,000 children.

Job Creation

Richard Graham: What progress is being made on creating jobs and reducing unemployment.

Elizabeth Truss: The unemployment rate is the lowest since 1975 / in over 42 years (at 4.3%)

Universal Credit

Fiona Onasanya: What discussions he has had with Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the potential effect of the roll-out of universal credit on levels of household income?

Elizabeth Truss: I refer the hon member to my oral answer of earlier today to the hon member for Midlothian (Danielle Rowley).

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: Sri Lanka

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to increase trade and investment relationships with Sri Lanka.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade (DIT) has a team in Sri Lanka which focuses on significant opportunities. DIT works with Sri Lankan counterparts and the wider business community to identify emerging opportunities that will continue to increase bilateral trade and investment between the UK and Sri Lanka.This financial year, DIT has already supported British companies in securing multi-million pound projects in the advanced engineering and financial and professional services sectors.UK Export Finance, the UK’s export credit agency, has capacity to support UK trade with Sri Lanka and welcomes new applications for support.

Higher Education: Exports

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what target her Department has set for the level of higher education exports in the next five years; and what steps her Department plans to take to meet that target.

Mark Garnier: A target to increase the value of exports across the education sector to £30bn by 2020 was set by the previous government. The target is rightly ambitious and the Department for International Trade (DIT) remains committed to working with the rest of government and the sector to drive progress towards achieving it.The Government actively promotes study in the UK through the GREAT Campaign and through the British Council, which promotes the UK in over 100 countries. There continues to be no limit to the number of overseas students who can come here to study, and the UK is second only to the USA in terms of our market share.This Government continues to support growth in UK education exports, including through the work of the team dedicated to education exports in DIT. I have recently announced the establishment of a DIT Education Sector Advisory Group, chaired by myself, which will support the aspirations of the sector internationally. The inaugural meeting is scheduled for December.

Trade Agreements

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what representations he has received from which countries on their seeking future trade deals with the UK.

Greg Hands: As the Government has set out in the Department for International Trade’s (DIT) White Paper, ‘Preparing for our future UK trade policy’, DIT is engaging with a broad range of partners about future trading options, including new Free Trade Agreements. The Government will aim – through Working Groups, Joint Trade Reviews and other discussions – to improve trading relations and remove barriers affecting UK businesses.

Department for International Trade: Postal Services

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what security measures his Department has in place relating to the receipt by his Department of incoming post and parcels; and what discussions he has had with the British Forces Postal Office on providing such services.

Greg Hands: The Department of International Trade (DIT) follows government security standards relating to the receipt of incoming post and parcels, as laid out under the HMG Security Policy Framework and as appropriate for each DIT location. DIT has not had discussions with the British Forces Post Office on this matter.

Saudi Arabia: Arms Trade

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will impose a ban on the export of arms to Saudi Arabia.

Mark Garnier: The Government takes its export licensing responsibilities very seriously and our processes have been subjected to public and judicial scrutiny.The Government operates a rigorous and robust process to ensure that any licences for UK defence exports are consistent with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. The policy remains as announced to parliament in a Written Ministerial Statement on 25 March 2014.http://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2014-03-25/debates/14032566000018/ConsolidatedEUAndNationalArmsExportLicensingCriteriaThe key test for the Government for our continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia in relation to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is whether there is a clear risk that those weapons might be used in a serious violation of IHL. The situation is kept under careful and continual review.

USA: Overseas Trade

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the value of (a) imports from and (b) exports to the US was for each region and nation of the UK in each of the last 30 years for which data is available.

Mark Garnier: Data on the value of UK trade (exports and imports) in goods and services with the USA since 1999 are available from the ONS at:https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/adhocs/007716additionalcountrydatafortradeingoodsandservicesbetween1999and2016Data on the value of UK trade in goods by UK region with the USA since 1996 are available from HM Customs and Revenue (HMRC)’s Build Your Own Tables application at:https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/BuildYourOwnTables/Pages/Home.aspx (RTS data)Data on the value of exports of services (excluding travel, transport and financial services) by GB region to the USA in 2015 are available from the ONS at:https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/estimatingthevalueofserviceexportsabroadfromdifferentpartsoftheuk/2015 (data for earlier years are not available).  Notes:The data at the links above are not comparable due to differences in coverage and methodology between sourcesData on the value of imports of services from the USA are not available

Exports

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, for what reason the figures in the Red Book, published on 22 November show growth in exports of goods and services in the UK falling from 3.4% in 2018 to 0.1% in 2020.

Mark Garnier: The Budget takes its trade projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) autumn forecast. Details of the OBR’s forecast can be found in its Economic and Fiscal Outlook for November 2017. As the OBR stresses, there is considerable uncertainty around these forecasts.

Small Businesses

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to his Oral Answer on 23 November 2017, what criteria he used to locate staff from the Export Hub on Small Business Saturday.

Mark Garnier: The Export Hub is invited to locations across the UK, and has so far visited 235 sites. Any Member of Parliament is able to request for the Export Hub to visit their constituency.The logistics for managing the Export Hub is contracted through an external company.Many cross-party MPs have spoken highly of the work of the Export Hub at the Department for International Trade’s (DIT) Monthly MPs Briefings which the DIT Ministerial team hosts.

Trade Agreements

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade pursuant to his Oral Answer of 23 November 2017, what the timetable is for the agreement of each of the trade agreements to be rolled over from the EU after the UK leaves the EU; and how many staff in his Department have been allocated to  each agreement.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade is engaging with all countries with which the European Union currently has free trade agreements with a view to replicating, as far as possible, the effects of existing agreements as the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, including in any implementation period that might be agreed between the UK and the EU.This work involves staff across the Department and in other government departments.

Small Businesses

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Oral Answer on 23 November 2017, how much funding from UK Export Finance has been spent on (a) supporting UK businesses and (b) advisers to those businesses.

Mark Garnier: UK Export Finance (UKEF) operates at no net cost to the taxpayer, and has provided £14 billion of support for UK exports in the last five years. Over that period, administrative costs were £137 million, of which around £4m related to its network of 24 Export Finance Managers, who act as local points of contact for businesses across the UK. UKEF generated £532 million in premium for the same period.

Department for International Trade: Internet

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she plans to upgrade the Department’s website to attract more foreign investment.

Mark Garnier: Great.gov.uk was launched in November 2017. The platform’s purpose is to help UK businesses secure their place on the global stage and present and promote the UK as a natural choice for overseas investment. DIT continuously monitors the site for opportunities to upgrade. In addition, invest.great.gov.uk was launched in January 2017 and for China from February 2017. invest.great.gov.uk targets investors in eight languages: from November 2016 in German, Chinese and English; from January 2017 in Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese; from February 2017 Arabic; and, French followed in February 2017. Sector content is also updated regularly which now includes: Automotive, Creative, Health and Life Sciences, Energy, Financial Services, and Technology, with later additions in Retail, Food and Drink, Aerospace, and Advanced Manufacturing.All content and features will be developed according to the processes outlined in the Government’s Digital Service Standard. We continuously research the needs of investors, iterate content and collect feedback to improve the service, as set out in the standard. As such, updates to ensure the site remains relevant are ongoing.

Trade Agreements

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimates his Department has made of changes in staff levels needed to negotiate trade deals after the UK leaves the EU.

Greg Hands: The Department is already increasing staff levels to support future trade negotiations.Since July 2016 our Trade Policy Group has grown significantly from 45 to around 400 today. The Group includes lawyers, analysts, trade policy and country specialists drawn from across all relevant Government departments that will be involved in developing policy for and negotiating trade deals.

Women and Equalities

Females: Voting Rights

Helen Goodman: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the criteria for application for the £3.8 million for local and community projects within the centenary fund are and how people can apply for that funding.

Anne Milton: This week, the Chancellor announced that £1.2 million of the centenary fund will go directly to seven Centenary Cities and towns in England with a strong suffrage history, to strengthen the reach and legacy of the celebrations to inspire a new generation with this story.A further £1.5 million will be available to organisations and communities through a grants scheme. We have appointed a grant administrator to oversee the application and award process, and I will write to all Members with details of the scheme including application criteria shortly.We are developing an exciting national programme to celebrate and remember the suffrage movement, which also includes funding the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, and a suite of education programmes.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, on what date the the GEO informed the Prime Minister's Office that the Equality and Human Rights Commission intended to abolish the position of Disability Commissioner.

Nick Gibb: The non-statutory roles and responsibilities of Board members of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), including the former ‘Disability Commissioner’ role are matters for the EHRC to decide. The GEO would not normally inform the Prime Minister’s Office of intended EHRC changes to these roles and responsibilities and did not do so in this case.

Department for Transport

Railways: Compensation

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to extend the compensation package to rail season ticket holders for delays of under 30 minutes.

Paul Maynard: In October 2016, we announced an improved compensation scheme under which rail passengers, including rail season ticket holders, will be able to claim compensation if their train is delayed by 15 minutes or more. ‘Delay Repay 15’, (DR15) which provides compensation of 25% of the cost of the single ticket or 25% of the cost of the relevant portion of the return ticket for delays of between 15 and 29 minutes, has been introduced on Govia Thameslink Railway services and is being rolled out more widely across DfT-franchised Train Operating Companies, starting with South Western, West Midlands and South Eastern. DR15 will be contracted as a requirement for new DfT franchises when contracts come up for renewal. We have also asked a number of train operating companies for proposals to implement DR15 before their contract expires; and will introduce DR15 if the proposals are affordable and represent value for money for taxpayers.

Transport: Finance

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the planned criteria are for the allocation of the £1.7bn Transforming Cities Fund to improve transport connectivity.

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will allocate Transforming Cities funding to improve transport connectivity in Leigh constituency.

Jesse Norman: As the Chancellor announced at Budget, Greater Manchester will receive £243 million from the Transforming Cities Fund. It will be for the Mayor and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to decide whether to use this allocation to develop projects to improve connectivity in Leigh constituency. After allowing for allocations to the other Mayoral combined authorities, the remaining half of the fund will be open to bids from English cities.

Department for Transport: Postal Services

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what security measures his Department has in place relating to the receipt by his Department of incoming post and parcels; and what discussions he has had with the British Forces Postal Office on providing such services.

Mr John Hayes: The Department has protective measures in place to receive packages into the Department safely and securely. We have not had discussions with the British Forces Postal Office regarding such services.

Electric Vehicles

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to incentivise manufacturers to produce more affordable electric cars.

Jesse Norman: Through the Office for Low Emission Vehicles and Innovate UK, the Department for Transport is investing over £200m to support UK businesses to build on their strengths in electric vehicle technology and the design, development and manufacture of electric vehicles. The Government is also incentivising the purchase of electric vehicles with a grant of up to £4500 to consumers to offset the cost of this technology.

Electric Vehicles: Rural Areas

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the provision of suitably located charging points in remote and rural areas.

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many publicly available charging points for electric cars there are in the UK; and what plans he has to increase the number of charging points.

Jesse Norman: The vast majority of charging takes place at home, overnight. To support this, the Government provides funding for the installation of both on-street and off-street charging infrastructure. In addition, support exists UK-wide, including for rural areas, to enable workplaces to install infrastructure for use of employees and fleets. The UK also now has over 11,500 publically accessible chargepoints, including over 900 rapid chargepoints. This is one of the largest rapid networks in Europe. In addition, the Automated and Electric Vehicle Bill, currently going through Parliament, will give powers to the UK Government to expand deployment of infrastructure at motorway service areas and large fuel retailers, UK-wide. As announced at Autumn Budget 2017, a new £400m electric car Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (£200m new Government investment to be matched by private investors) will accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure by providing access to finance to companies that deliver chargepoints.

Electric Vehicles: Wales

Daniel Kawczynski: What assessment he has made of the adequacy of rapid charging point provision on the strategic road network in Wales.

Jesse Norman: The Department has funded rapid charge point roll-out through a competitive bidding approach via Local Authorities, through the OLEV National Infrastructure Grant Schemes, and Go Ultra Low Cities scheme (ongoing), which have provided funding to projects to support rapids. These grant schemes have also been available to Welsh local authorities. The Welsh Government is also providing £2 million to help secure a network of charging points throughout Wales in order to support the uptake of electric vehicles. The funding will be released in 2018/19 and 2019/20. The Welsh Government is currently scoping the priorities for deploying the money and delivery options, and will be engaging with a range of stakeholders as part of the process. A key priority will be the installation of a network of points along/near the trunk road network in Wales for longer, through journeys to help alleviate range anxiety and therefore increase electric vehicle uptake.

Transport: North of England

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria his Department will use to assess transport strategies proposed by Transport for the North.

Jesse Norman: The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 Section 102I provides that a sub-national transport body’s transport strategy should contain its proposals for the promotion and encouragement of sustainable, safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport facilities and services to, from and within its area, as required to meet the needs of persons (including pedestrians) living, working or visiting its area and the needs of freight.

Volkswagen

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made in expediting compensation to vehicle owners affected by the Volkswagen emissions scandal since the debate in Westminster Hall on 20 April 2017 on emissions and vehicle type approval; whether such compensation will match that given to vehicle owners in the the US; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the heightened incidence of breakdowns and mechanical failures reported by the Volkswagen Diesel Customer Forum after updates have been completed.

Jesse Norman: The Government continues to take Volkswagen’s actions in relation to diesel emissions extremely seriously and is working hard on behalf of UK consumers. Following pressure from the UK Government, Volkswagen Group now offer a ‘Trust Building Measure’ for all consumers that have had, and will have, the technical measure applied. This commits Volkswagen to respond reasonably and appropriately to every complaint which relates to the implementation of the service action. Officials have met with the Volkswagen Diesel Customer Forum to hear their concerns and plans for a further meeting in January 2018 are being finalised.

Railways: Leigh

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment​ his Department has made of the potential costs and benefits of installing a rail line and station to the town of Leigh.

Paul Maynard: The Department for Transport has not made an assessment of the potential costs and benefits of installing a rail line and station to the town of Leigh. The Government’s policy is that it is for local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to determine the best way to meet local transport needs and take the first step in evaluating benefits and prioritising available resources. It would be for Transport for Greater Manchester to develop such plans and seek funding opportunities.

Taxis: Vetting

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of designating private hire drivers as Disclosure and Barring Service regulated professionals.

Mr John Hayes: There are certain circumstances, such as undertaking specific contracted work driving children, which fall into the definition of a regulated activity. The definitions of regulated activity that apply to work with children or work with adults are set out in legislation and such activities include teaching or supervision of children and the provision of health or personal care services. In addition, all licensing authorities currently require an enhanced DBS check for drivers of taxis and PHV, and are able to request a barred list check alongside this. Consequently designating taxi and PHV driving as a regulated activity would not mean any additional information would be disclosed. The Government considers that it would be disproportionate to designate taxi and PHV driving as regulated activity because not all taxi or PHV drivers take on such work with children or vulnerable adults. I announced in a Westminster Hall debate that I would be setting up a working group to consider current issues concerning taxi and PHV licensing, reporting its findings to me in the new year.

Taxis: Disability

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that licensing authorities (a) introduce disability equality training and (b) publicise the 2010 Best Practice Guidance for taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.

Mr John Hayes: Taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) services must be accessible to those who rely upon them, and disability awareness training can be effective in equipping drivers with the skills and knowledge to provide all passengers with the assistance they require. The Department is currently considering the responses to the consultation on the draft Accessibility Action Plan which will inform the updated Best Practice Guidance for taxi and PHV licensing authorities. It is the Department’s expectation that the guidance will include a recommendation that authorities should use their existing powers to require prospective drivers to complete disability awareness and equality training. I announced in a Westminster Hall debate that I would be setting up a working group to consider current issues concerning taxi and PHV licensing, reporting its findings to me in the new year.

Railways: Concessions

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the 26-30 year old travel discount scheme is mandatory for all Train Operating Companies.

Paul Maynard: The government is working with industry to extend the benefits of discounted travel. My current expectation is that, after a trial period, this card will be subject to a binding agreement between all franchised operators.

Railways: Greater Manchester

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to ensure that Orsdall Chord of the Great North Rail Project delivers full capacity at (a) Manchester Piccadilly and (b) Manchester Oxford Road stations.

Paul Maynard: The Ordsall Chord connects Manchester’s three main railway stations for the first time. It will enable more trains to run to Piccadilly from the south and will support new and direct services across the region. By 2020, passengers as far afield as Newcastle and Bradford will benefit from faster, more frequent journeys to Manchester Airport as a result of this new link. The corridor that includes Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road will increase from 12 to 15 trains per hour from May 2018. This increase in capacity is not linked to the building of the Ordsall Chord, it is as a result of changing the rules about how the corridor will operate.

Transport: Contracts

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the ability of (a) Carillion and (b) Babcock to fulfil their contractual obligations in the transport sector.

Mr John Hayes: In each procurement a risk assessment is taken based on the project or services being delivered.

Railways: Tickets

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of the roll-out of smart ticketing and what the timetable is for that roll-out across the UK.

Paul Maynard: The Department has allocated a total budget of £80 million which, together with the Rail Delivery Group’s mobile barcode programme and the work of Transport for the North, will offer smart ticketing coverage to almost all of the country by the end of 2018.

Railways: Mobile Phones

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to mobile phone networks on trains.

Paul Maynard: In December 2016 my Department introduced a requirement that future rail franchises have better mobile connectivity for their passengers. My Department is also working closely with the Department of Digital, Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) to see what further improvements can be made to mobile connectivity on trains. DCMS will be shortly consulting upon commercial options to improve mobile communications for rail passengers and will invest up to £35 million to enable trials, as announced in the Budget. This will be used to: upgrade the Network Rail test track in Melton Mowbray; install trackside infrastructure along the Trans-Pennine route between Manchester, Leeds and York; and support the rollout of full-fibre and 5G networks.

Railways: North East

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 4.46 of the Autumn Budget 2017, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people aged 26 to 30 who will benefit from the proposed introduction of a new discount railcard for that age group in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside and (c) the North East.

Paul Maynard: The government is working with industry to extend the benefits of discounted travel. The Department has not made estimates of the number of people who will benefit from the proposed railcard on such a geographic basis. All people aged 26 to 30 who purchase a card would be eligible for discounted rail travel under the proposal.

Department of Transport: Vacancies

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vacancies there were in his Department in each month since January 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: In looking at vacancies as target staffing levels compared to actual staffing levels, the total for the Department and the Executive Agencies is outlined below. There is some inconsistency with reporting which may skew the results, with DVLA and DVSA both providing Full Time Equivalent numbers as opposed to Headcount. Highways Agency was part of the Department between January 2015 and April 2015 but their figures are not included in subsequent months. DVSA was not able to report on any information prior to April 2015. MonthDfT totalMonthDfT totalMonthDfT totalJan-15432.8Jan-16636.0Jan-17378.0Feb-15509.4Feb-16661.4Feb-17404.1Mar-15590.4Mar-16594.0Mar-17584.8Apr-15683.5Apr-16525.5Apr-17636.0May-15433.3May-16575.8May-17644.3Jun-15446.5Jun-16587.9Jun-17617.4Jul-15535.2Jul-16621.6Jul-17588.9Aug-15520.4Aug-16583.7Aug-17510.7Sep-15585.3Sep-16603.5Sep-17626.8Oct-15664.5Oct-16476.8Oct-17587.6Nov-15615.7Nov-16519.0Dec-15622.2Dec-16585.7

Department for Transport: Staff

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November to Question 112580, how many staff are employed in the Regional Transport Strategies Directorate and in which NUTS 1 regions these staff are based.

Jesse Norman: The Regional Transport Strategies Directorate was created to support the Northern Powerhouse, with its remit subsequently expanded to support the Government’s re-balancing agenda. Following a reorganisation, implemented on Monday 27th November, Regional Transport Strategies has been restructured in order to support the Department’s ‘place based engagement’ better. As a result, the Directorate has been renamed Regions, Cities and Devolution. The geographical spread of the new Directorate’s staff, which includes a mix of full- and part-time working, by NUTS1 regions is set out below: NUTS 1 RegionNo. of StaffWest Midlands (England)6Yorkshire & the Humber5North West (England)1North East (England)16London44Total72 Whilst the staff in this Directorate are spread across the above five regions, their work is not limited to the region in which they are based.

Thameslink Railway Line

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, assessment he has made of (a) the value for money delivered by and (b) benefit:cost ratio of the Thameslink upgrade programme.

Paul Maynard: The Department for Transport’s latest business case for the Thameslink Programme records estimated total benefits of £9.6 billion in 2010 prices, and a benefit cost ratio of 1.24 to 1. This was reported in the National Audit Office report ‘Update on the Thameslink Programme’ published on 23 November.

Thameslink Railway Line: Timetables

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, (a) what planning his department has undertaken to assess the impact of timetable changes to Thameslink services and (b) what risk assessment has been undertaken of any changes

Paul Maynard: The new Thameslink timetable to be introduced from May 2018 has been developed by Govia Thameslink Railway as Thameslink operator, working with Network Rail and other rail industry stakeholders including the Department for Transport (DfT). The proposed timetable has been considered both by DfT and the rail industry and the Secretary of State for Transport has agreed to phase its introduction to reduce the risk of disruption to passengers.

Thameslink Railway Line

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timescale is to introduce (a) stabling for new Thameslink trains and (b) new accommodation for Thameslink drivers.

Paul Maynard: Stabling for Thameslink trains and accommodation facilities for Thameslink drivers are planned to be provided to accord with the full introduction of the Thameslink timetable in December 2019. The Thameslink Programme has already provided stabling at the following locations: new Thameslink depots at Hornsey (north London) and Three Bridges (Crawley) and at Brighton, Bedford, Cricklewood, Horsham and Peterborough.

Thameslink Railway Line

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the Thameslink Programme Industry Readiness Board has met since it was established in 2016, and if he will publish the minutes of the board’s meetings.

Paul Maynard: The Thameslink 2018 Industry Readiness Board has met 10 times. The Board is led by the rail industry and discusses commercially and operationally sensitive issues. There are no plans to publish the minutes of meetings.

Uber

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings have taken place between Uber and (a) Ministers and (b) Officials of his Department in each year since May 2010.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received from police forces relating to Uber.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has received on the safety record of Uber.

Mr John Hayes: The Department has received numerous representations regarding Uber from individuals, trade bodies, driver representation organisations and regulatory bodies. However, since the Department does not hold information categorised as requested, this information could only therefore be obtained at disproportionate cost. Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and are available via the gov.uk website. Officials at the Department are not required to keep record of meetings attended; it is not therefore possible to provide a comprehensive list of meetings with any party, including Uber. However, a search of diaries by officials most likely to meet with Uber and that are still at the Department indicates that there was one meeting in 2015, six in 2016 and three in 2017 (as of 24 November).

Uber

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of Uber's fitness to operate in the UK.

Mr John Hayes: The Government is responsible for setting the regulatory structure within which local licensing authorities in England and Wales license private hire vehicle (PHV) operators. It is the responsibility of these authorities to ensure that any person or organisation to whom they grant an operator licence is ‘fit and proper’ to hold such a licence and compliant with PHV legislation. Furthermore, once a licence has been issued, licensing authorities have an ongoing responsibility to ensure that operators continue to be ‘fit and proper’.

Rolling Stock

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November to Question 111721, whether the bi-mode trains commissioned for the services referred to (a) will or (b) will not be more expensive to operate than electric trains.

Paul Maynard: Government has been clear that bi-modes are likely to be more expensive to operate than electric only trains but that is not the whole picture. Bi-modes allow us reduce the up-front capital costs of infrastructure compared to electric trains as overhead wires and gantries do not need to be installed along entire routes. The trains provide greater flexibility for operators when developing their timetables and increase service resilience during disruption. These factors are part of what the government has considered in delivering both genuine benefits to passengers and value to the taxpayer.

Rolling Stock

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November to Question 111766, whether the (a) bi-mode Intercity Express trains on Great Western and (b) Class 319 flex trains on Windermere will be slower than the trains they replace in (i) diesel mode or (ii) electric mode.

Paul Maynard: a) The Great Western Intercity Express Programme bi-mode fleet has been specified to ensure they can deliver the timetable operated by current diesel trains. Once the current planned electrification programme is complete the IEP trains will operate an enhanced timetable with shorter journey times. At this point, passengers will see the introduction of the full capacity benefits and a reduced journey time of up to 15 minutes between London and South Wales. b) The Class 319 flex, otherwise known as a Class 769, is a bi-mode train, adapted from a former electric-only train which will be able to run under its own power as well. The trains can run at 100mph in electric mode and are designed to have very similar diesel acceleration to the 75mph units they will replace. Converting these trains will enable passengers in the Lake District to benefit from double the number of direct services to Manchester Airport from May 2018. The train operator, Northern, will be responsible for determining the precise timetables under which these trains will run.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

India: Prisoners

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he plans to make an assessment of the adequacy of consular support provided to British nationals in Indian prisons.

Mark Field: Consular assistance is provided to all British national prisoners, if they request it. Consular staff endeavour to contact the prisoner, by telephone or in person, as soon as possible after being notified of their arrest. If there are problems accessing the prisoner, they seek the support of the local authorities to provide access. Consular staff provide tailored assistance to prisoners, according to their individual circumstances and the local conditions. ​​

Israel: Human Rights

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has plans to encourage the Israeli Government to engage with the United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review taking place in January 2018.

Alistair Burt: The UK values the Universal Periodic Review, which allows an open and constructive dialogue on the key human rights concerns of all 193 UN member states. We encourage all UN member states to reap the benefits of such a dialogue by engaging fully with the Universal Periodic Review process.

Tajikistan: LGBT People

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in Tajikistan on reports that authorities in that country have drawn up lists of LGBTQ citizens in an operation titled morality and purge.

Sir Alan Duncan: Following reports that the government of Tajikistan had required 367 people to register and undergo medical testing because of their sexual orientation, our Ambassador made representations to the Tajik Ministry of Foreign Affairs about Tajikistan's international commitments to combat all forms of discrimination.In addition, our delegation to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna took the lead in drafting and submitting an EU statement at the OSCE Permanent Council. The statement raised our concerns and urged the Tajik authorities to ensure the safety and security of all its citizens including those identifying as LGBTQ.

Tajikistan: LGBT People

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the ability of LGBTQ support organisations to operate freely in Tajikistan.

Sir Alan Duncan: There is an increasingly difficult operating environment for NGOs in Tajikistan. Three Tajik NGOs working with the LGBTQ community have closed in the past two years. The operating environment for NGOs, for example the pressure and harassment imposed on NGOs by the burdensome inspections, fines and registration requirements, was raised at the October 2017 EU Human Rights Dialogue with the Government of Tajikistan.Our Ambassador meets members of the LGBTQ and other minority communities in Tajikistan to give them the opportunity to share their concerns. Something which demonstrates UK leadership in the area of human rights.

Poland: Hate Crime

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will assess the diplomatic implications of reports of anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, racist and anti-refugee hate speech during the recent march in Warsaw to mark Poland’s Independence Day.

Sir Alan Duncan: Her Majesty's Government strongly condemns all types of hate speech and we encourage all countries to investigate and tackle any reported incidents of hate speech. The UK and Poland have worked together on combatting hate crime through a joint workshop in London in 2017 and by co-hosting an expert panel at an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe event in September 2016. Our Embassy in Warsaw is in contact with local NGOs who monitor incidents of hate crime.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Postal Services

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what security measures his Department has in place relating to the receipt by his Department of incoming post and parcels; and what discussions he has had with the British Forces Postal Office on providing such services.

Mark Field: ​All Royal Mail post and parcels addressed to the FCO buildings in King Charles Street and Lancaster House in London are diverted to the British Forces Postal Office (BFPO) Northolt, where they are security scanned by trained staff, before being forwarded to their destination. Mail destined for the FCO's overseas posts is either processed at BFPO Northolt or Hanslope Park. The latter also handles mail for staff working at Hanslope Park and Northgate House.FCO Services has already moved the majority of post and parcel receipt and security scanning requirements to the BFPO. FCO Services is in discussions with BFPO ​about transferring further elements of this work to them during 2018.

Russia: LGBT People

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Russia on the rights of LGBT people in (a) Chechnya and (b) Russia and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer of 17 November 2017 (PQ 111577).

Palestinians: Detainees

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the humanitarian needs of Palestiinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

Alistair Burt: The Government has concerns about allegations of mistreatment of Palestinian detainees and about Israel’s respect for its relevant obligations as an Occupying Power under applicable international law. While we have not made an assessment of the humanitarian needs of Palestinian detainees, a focus of UK human rights engagement is Palestinian minors in Israeli military detention, as we have concerns about the treatment of minors during arrest and interrogation. We have raised these concerns with the Israeli authorities on many occasions, and will continue to do so.

Companies: Ownership

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2017 to Question 111541, on companies: ownership what access the Government has to registers of beneficial ownership in each British Overseas Territory.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​Central registers of beneficial ownership information or similarly effective arrangements are in place in Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar.Under bilateral arrangements concluded in 2016 with Overseas Territories with financial centres, UK law enforcement authorities have the automatic right of access to beneficial ownership information held on companies incorporated in those Territories within 24 hours or one hour in urgent cases.Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos Islands have not yet established a central register or similarly effective arrangement. We continue to monitor progress and to offer support to both these Territories.Montserrat has committed to establish a public central register and is expected to introduce new legislation to implement its central register shortly.

Zimbabwe: British Nationals Abroad

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent estimate has made of the number of British citizens living in Zimbabwe.

Rory Stewart: We estimate there are approximately 20,000 British citizens living in Zimbabwe, many of whom are long-term residents.We ask all British nationals to regularly check travel advice.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Public Expenditure

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many losses and special payments have been made by his Department in the 2017-18 financial year to date; and what the value of those losses and payments have been.

Sir Alan Duncan: The figures requested form part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s annual report submitted to Parliament. The outturn for the 2017-18 financial year has not yet been finalised.

Burma: Rohingya

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Myanmar counterparts on the Bangladesh-Myanmar deal to return Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar.

Mark Field: The UK has been clear that an agreement on returning the Rohingya refugees to their homes in Burma must provide for voluntary, safe and dignified return. I made these points to the Bangladesh High Commissioner Nazmul Quaunine and Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque when they met on 2 November. The Foreign Secretary has spoken to Aung San Suu Kyi three times since this crisis began, most recently on 21 October, when he urged her to implement her commitment to ensure the return of refugees. At ASEM (20-21 November) I met with Minister of Defence U Sein Win, the Chief of Staff to State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, U Kyaw Tin Swe and the Deputy Foreign Minister U Kyaw Tin and in each meeting raised the need for early returns. The principle of non-refoulement is also detailed in the United Nations Security Council Presidential Statement made on 6 November – a statement the UK was instrumental in achieving.

Burma: Rohingya

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, what discussions he has had with his Bangladeshi counterparts on the Bangladesh-Myanmar agreement to return Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar?

Mark Field: ​The UK has been clear that an agreement on returning the Rohingya refugees to their homes in Burma must provide for voluntary, safe and dignified return. I made these points to the Bangladesh High Commissioner Nazmul Quaunine and Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque when they met on 2 November. The Foreign Secretary has spoken to Aung San Suu Kyi three times since this crisis began, most recently on 21 October, when he urged her to implement her commitment to ensure the return of refugees. At ASEM (20-21 November) I met with Minister of Defence U Sein Win, the Chief of Staff to State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, U Kyaw Tin Swe and the Deputy Foreign Minister U Kyaw Tin and in each meeting raised the need for early returns. The principle of non-refoulement is also detailed in the United Nations Security Council Presidential Statement made on 6 November – a statement the UK was instrumental in achieving.

Turkey: Politics and Government

Chris Williamson: To the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will condemn the Turkish Government for imprisoning almost 100 elected representatives and more than 5,000 activists from the Peoples' Democratic Party.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​Following the failed coup in 2016 and the subsequent imposition of a State of Emergency, we expect Turkey, as a modern democracy, to undertake any legal processes against elected representatives and activists fairly, transparently and with full respect for the rule of law. It is important that legal measures under the State of Emergency be proportionate, justified and in line with Turkey's democratic principles and its international human rights obligations. We have made these points consistently with Turkish Ministers, as has the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary.

Syria: Kurds

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take help ensure that Kurdish authorities in northern Syria can participate in future peace talks.

Alistair Burt: Kurdish groups have been represented in Syrian peace negotiations in Geneva through the Kurdish National Council, as part of the opposition High Negotiations Committee. Invitations for any other groups to the Geneva peace negotiations are a matter for the UN Special Envoy for Syria. The UN Envoy has involved Kurdish and other minority groups in civil society discussions alongside formal negotiations in Geneva.We maintain that any political settlement must be inclusive. All Syrian constituencies must ultimately be represented in discussion on Syria's future – this is a key principle in the 2012 Geneva communique and UNSCR 2254.

Press Freedom

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with organisations that promote  press freedom in the last 12 months

Mark Field: The FCO and its network of Embassies and High Commissions overseas has had extensive contact in the last 12 months with organisations that promote press freedom. This information is not recorded centrally and accordingly it would be impractical to attempt to produce a comprehensive list of such meetings and discussions. The Foreign Secretary himself met his Human Rights Advisory Group on 10 October to discuss current challenges to press freedom.The FCO also supports projects run by organisations that promote press freedom. In the past 12 months, the FCO has granted more than £1.3 million from the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy to projects dedicated to freedom of expression and support for civil society.

Burma: Rohingya

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to secure humanitarian access to northern Rakhine in Burma.

Mark Field: The Red Cross and the World Food Programme are currently the only aid organisations with permission to provide humanitarian support in Northern Rakhine. The UK has provided £2 million to the World Food Programme and £1 million to the Red Cross. We continue to urge the Burmese authorities to grant full access to UN and other agencies so that they can help meet the urgent need in Northern Rakhine. During my visit to Burma on 20-21 November, I met ​Burma's Minister of Defence Sein Win and the Deputy Foreign Minister U Kyaw Tin and pressed again the need for full humanitarian access.

Burma: United Nations

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the United Nations fact-finding mission in Rakhine State, Burma.

Mark Field: ​The UK co-sponsored the resolution at the Human Rights Council in March 2017 which set up a Fact-Finding Mission to look into the human rights situation in Burma. We also supported the extension of its mandate until September 2018. We have repeatedly urged Burma to cooperate with the Fact-Finding Mission and grant it access to Rakhine State, and shall continue to do so. I look forward to meeting the members of the Fact-Finding Mission during their visit to London in December.

Burma: Rohingya

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the documentation and investigation of sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls in Rakhine State, Burma.

Mark Field: ​The UK has been clear about the need for the Burmese authorities to end all violence including gender-based violence in Rakhine. I urged an independent investigation of reports of atrocities and incidents of sexual violence when I met Burma's Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor on 20 November in Nay Pyi Daw​. The Foreign Secretary has raised his concerns about reports of sexual violence directly with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.The UK Government has deployed two civilian experts to Bangladesh to conduct a capacity needs assessment on the investigation and documentation of sexual violence. This will provide recommendations for the UK Government to consider on support for evidence gathering: it is vital that any evidence or testimony gathered is collated in the proper way. The UK is also funding the provision of medical services, counselling and psychological support to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh who have either witnessed or are survivors of sexual violence. An FCO official recently travelled with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence to meet victims and witnesses of sexual violence in Bangladeshi refugee camps; the UK is supporting the Special Representative's proposal to brief the UN Security Council on her findings.

Department for International Development

Pakistan: Non-governmental Organisations

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of using UK aid to Pakistan as leverage with which to engage the Government of Pakistan on its relations with NGOs.

Alistair Burt: International and national NGOs are important development partners, and the UK is concerned about some of the restrictions they face. DFID and FCO officials regularly press the Government of Pakistan to ensure registration and regulation is implemented appropriately, and allow NGOs to continue their important work. Our aid relationship with the Government of Pakistan is based on assessment against our Partnership Principles and funding is subject to programme performance and progress by government on key policy reforms.

Swaziland: Overseas Aid

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much aid she has provided to Swaziland since her Department was established.

Alistair Burt: The total amount of UK Net Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend to Swaziland since 1997, when my Department was established, was £6.8 million. This figure is sourced from the OECD DAC database and Statistics on International Development (DFID).

Developing Countries: Poverty

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has (a) recently had and (b) plans to have with her international counterparts on the percentage of gross national income each of their countries contributes towards global efforts to eradicate poverty.

Alistair Burt: After taking office on 9 Nov, the Secretary of State is considering opportunities to engage with her international counterparts, including strategic dialogues on development with several of them in the New Year.While it is for other governments to decide what percentage of gross national income (GNI) to allocate as Official Development Assistance (ODA), the Secretary of State will highlight the importance the UK Government places on meeting the international commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI as ODA. She will make clear the vital role that international development activity plays in tackling global challenges such as mass migration and disease, as well as helping the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.

Bangladesh: Rohingya

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure there are confidential spaces for Rohingya women and children refugees to report any abuse and sexual violence in Bangladesh

Alistair Burt: We are committed to protecting vulnerable groups in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, and are providing support for survivors and addressing the risk of Gender Based Violence (GBV). DFID is supporting the establishment of Child Friendly Spaces and Women and Adolescent Friendly Spaces to provide protective services, and psychosocial and psychological support. Through UK funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UK support will reach over 10,000 women suffering from trauma, and over 2000 survivors of sexual violence, as part of the larger response to the risks. We are now planning to scale-up our GBV response.

Burma: Rohingya

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to encourage coordination between the International Organisation for Migration, the UN and foreign governments in response to the Rohingya crisis.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for International Development recently returned from Bangladesh where she met the UN Resident Coordinator, IOM’s Chief of Mission, UNHCR’s Emergency Coordinator and representatives from other UN agencies and NGOs to discuss coordination and the next phase of the response. DFID funds the IOM-managed Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) in Cox’s Bazar. At the start of the crisis DFID convened a donor group that has been meeting weekly to discuss coordination of aid flows. DFID will be part of a new Senior Executive Group of UN, NGO and donor leads in Dhaka to improve coordination with the field. DFID has made clear to UN and NGO partners that they should work with the existing coordination groups, align with the humanitarian response plan, and comply with Bangladesh regulations.

Department for International Development: Staff

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate he has made of changes in staff numbers at each grade and salary band which will be needed in her Department after the UK leaves the EU.

Alistair Burt: DFID, at this point, is not projecting any change in staffing numbers. Any future requirements will be addressed via DFID’s annual workforce planning process which allows identification of future resourcing and capability requirements.

Department for Education

Supply Teachers: Expenditure

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of the schools budget spent on supply teachers in (a) Redcar and Cleveland local authority area (b) the North East and (c) England in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: The below data has been taken from ‘income and expenditure in academies in England 2015/16’ and ‘consistent financial returns 2015-16 data’ for maintained schools. It covers directly employed supply teachers, agency supply teachers and supply teacher insurance. Academies AreaSchool countTotal expenditure (£)Total supply spend percentageRedcar and Cleveland1953,618,0003.05%North East222742,382,0002.52%England5,26617,095,395,0002.28% Maintained schoolsAreaSchool countTotal expenditure (£)Total supply spend percentageRedcar and Cleveland4170,969,9363.43%North East9531,410,755,4993.18%England16,77427,728,910,0483.26% In July 2017 we announced an additional £1.3 billion for schools and high needs across 2018-19 and 2019-20, in addition to the schools budget set at Spending Review 2015. This means funding per pupil for schools and high needs will be maintained in real terms for the next two years.Alongside our substantial investment, we are committed to helping schools improve outcomes for pupils and promote social mobility by getting the best value from all of their resources. This includes providing support to schools – on issues like managing teacher workload, implementing flexible working, the recruitment of supply staff and the effective deployment of support staff – so that as much resource as possible is focused on enabling teachers to improve outcomes for pupils.

Further Education

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of parliamentary constituencies in England that have no further education institution that provides A-Levels.

Anne Milton: We do not hold data for further education (FE) institutions not providing A Levels by parliamentary constituency.From the Single Individualised Learner Record for the 2015/16 academic year, there were 280 parliamentary constituencies where there were no learners participating in A Level courses in FE institutions based on the delivery location.It is important to note that this does not include A level provision in school sixth forms. There are significantly more school sixth forms than FE institutions providing A levels.

Pupils: Health

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2017 to Question 110581, on pupils health, what assessment she has made of the ability of schools to (a) prepare for  and (b) comply with that statutory guidance.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2017 to Question 110581, on pupils: health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's social media campaign; whether that campaign reached all schools in England; and how his Department will monitor compliance with the statutory guidance by schools in England.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2017 to Question 110581, on pupils: health, what discussions she has had with representatives from Health Conditions in Schools Alliance on compliance by schools in England with the statutory guidance.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We worked with a range of stakeholders in the development of the statutory guidance, including the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance, school leaders, academy organisations, unions, young people and their parents, and Department of Health officials. We then consulted publicly on the draft guidance, receiving 265 responses. Respondents included headteachers, teachers, school governors and local councils, in addition to many voluntary and community sector organisations who support children and young people with various medical conditions. 89% of respondents said that, overall, the statutory guidance would be helpful in supporting pupils with medical conditions effectively. Neither the consultation nor our discussions with stakeholders identified concerns about schools not being prepared or able to comply with the guidance. The department recently promoted the guidance through the department’s social media channels and reached over 32,000 people. We do not hold data on whether this reached all schools in England. Ofsted’s Common Inspection Framework requires inspectors, in making judgements upon schools, to pay particular attention to the outcomes of a range of groups of pupils, including those with medical needs. My officials are in regular communication with the Health Conditions in School Alliance. My department will be inviting representatives to a roundtable in the near future to discuss the issue of keeping children with medical conditions safe in school.

Department for Education: Postal Services

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what security measures her Department has in place relating to the receipt by her Department of incoming post and parcels; and what discussions she has had with the British Forces Postal Office on providing such services.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The department follows guidance issued by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure for establishing secure postal monitoring services. We have had no discussions with the British Forces Postal Office on providing screening mail services.

Students: Finance

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students aged 24 or over will have their funding delivered via a devolved budget in 2019-20.

Anne Milton: The department is not yet able to set out the level of funding that will be devolved in 2019/20. Devolution is dependent on agreement between the department and the Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) to a number of readiness conditions. From 2019/20 the MCAs will be responsible to deliver the Adult Education Budget in their areas.

Adult Education: ICT

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many adult students have received their digital entitlement since it was announced in 2016.

Anne Milton: The entitlement to free digital skills training for adults was provided through the Digital Economy Act 2017. This entitlement is yet to commence, although the government is currently working with Further Education institutions, employers and other stakeholders to develop the appropriate training. In advance of adults benefiting from the new entitlement, learners continue to study a wide range of digital courses. In the 2013 to 2014, the Skills Funding Agency funded 201,000 learners to take digital qualifications and approximately £100 million was spent through the Adult Skills Budget on training that provided a qualification in digital skills. The government will confirm in due course when the new provision for digital skills will commence.

Adult Education: Student Numbers

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students aged 24 and over have completed an (a) adult literacy, (b) adult numeracy, (c)  GCSE and (d) functional skills course in each year since 2010.

Anne Milton: The table below provides the number of learners achieving their learning aim, for students aged 24+ for English, Maths, GCSE and Functional Skills courses in each year since the 2011/12 academic year. Academic YearEnglish and MathsEnglishMathsGCSEFunctional Skills2011/12481,600286,600279,60011,40035,2002012/13460,200263,900261,70017,700131,9002013/14430,600251,000237,90020,900238,6002014/15405,500234,600212,50026,300246,3002015/16358,300205,700193,50027,400222,200 Notes:Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.Figures for 2011/12 onwards are not directly comparable to earlier years as a Single Individualised Learner Record data collection system has been introduced. Small technical changes have been made in the way learners from more than one provision type are counted, leading to a removal of duplicate learners and a reduction in overall learner numbers of approximately 2 per cent.Figures for English and Maths, and English includes achievements on English for Speakers of Other Languages courses.

Adult Education: Finance

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many general further education colleges sub-contract their adult education budget; and how many adult students have been educated in this way in each year since 2010.

Anne Milton: We are unable to provide accurate data for the total number of adult students that were educated by Further Education (FE) colleges in this way.FE colleges have historically submitted declarations for subcontracting activities. At the time of making a declaration, each college details the maximum value of the contract they have in place with each of their adult education budget subcontractors, which is referred to as their ‘subcontracting commitments’.We typically ask colleges (and other providers) to make their subcontractor declarations each Autumn and again each Spring. While this provides relevant data during the funding year, it does not offer the end of year figures. We are unable to ascertain from this particular data what the end of year position is for each college because some may have recruited new subcontractors after the Spring declaration. Others may have employed a subcontractor, though a learner might not of started a course. Therefore, these declarations do not provide an accurate picture of the subcontracting that took place each year.

Adult Education: Basic Skills

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to protect the rights of adults with poor literacy and numeracy skills to the national entitlement after the devolution of the adult education budget.

Anne Milton: Devolution of some aspects for adult education to the Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) will mean they are responsible for delivering the legal entitlements of maths and English to those who have low numeracy and literacy skills. The department is working with MCAs on their preparations to take on this duty through the establishment of Strategic Skills Plans that will play a key role in aligning local and national priorities.

Adult Education

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of (a) the number of general further education colleges that offered evening and weekend course for adult learners and (b) how many adult students attended such courses in each of the last three years.

Anne Milton: The government does not collect information on the number of general FE colleges that offer evening and weekend courses for adult learners or the number of adult students that attend those courses.Evening and weekend courses play an important role in adult education; giving the flexibility needed to attract those learners who have weekday commitments. These courses are provided not only by Further Education (FE) colleges but also by other training and learning providers, including those who receive Community Learning funding as part of the Adult Education Budget.However, a survey of adult and community learning commissioned last year showed that evening classes are run in 1,380 local centres. The survey results from 97 providers suggested that approximately a third of those providers use more than 40% of their budget for evening classes.The government wants to explore new ways of making learning more accessible. On 31 October, we launched the £10 million Flexible Learning fund to support new and flexible ways of delivering adult education. The deadline for bids is 31 January and all successful pilots will be monitored to ensure they are engaging adults in learning.

Schools: Sheffield

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the net change in funding will be for schools in Sheffield under the new funding formula in the next 12 months.

Nick Gibb: In 2018-19, Sheffield local authority will see a funding increase across the schools, high needs, and central school services blocks of 2.7%, or £10.0 million. Within this, the schools block element will also see a 2.7% increase in 2018-19, or £8.3 million, and every school in Sheffield will attract at least a 0.5% per pupil increases under the national funding formula. When the national funding formulae are fully implemented, Sheffield would see an increase of up to 7.9%, or £29 million. This information is available in the summary table at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-tables-for-schools-and-high-needs. These increases are subject to changes in pupil data; we will publish updated allocations for 2018-19 in December, which take account of the latest pupil numbers from the October 2017 census.

Adult Education: ICT

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out approved digital qualifications for adult learners and the examination bodies that offer them.

Anne Milton: There are a range of digital qualifications approved for adult learners. Digital qualifications and the examination bodies that offer them at level 3 and above for adults are included in the Advanced Learner Loans catalogue which is published online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advanced-learner-loans-qualifications-catalogue. Digital qualifications and the examination bodies that offer them at levels 2 and 3 are included in the list of qualifications which form part of the statutory entitlements for learners aged 19 to 23 which published online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/qualifications-getting-approval-for-funding. There are also basic digital qualifications and units available as part of the local flexibility offer within the Adult Education Budget. The Digital Strategy published in March 2017 confirmed that the government will introduce an entitlement for adults who lack basic digital skills to undertake fully-funded training. The entitlement to free digital skills training for adults was provided through the Digital Economy Act 2017. This will mirror the approach taken for adult literacy and numeracy training. The government is currently working with Further Education institutions, employers and other stakeholders to develop the appropriate training. The department will set out specific basic digital qualifications for adult learners eligible for fully-funded training in due course.

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide (a) breakdown of forecast expenditure of the proceeds of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy for  (i)  2017-18, (ii) 2018-19 and (iii) 2019/20; and (b) unallocated funding for those years.

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of the proceeds from the soft drinks industry level will be allocated to (a) the PE and Sport Premium, (b) the Healthy Pupil Capital Fund, (c) expanding the opening hours of secondary schools and (d) providing healthy breakfasts for primary school pupils over each of the next two financial years; and what additional sums are to be allocated to those programmes from the public purse.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The 2016 Budget announced funding for a number of programmes linked to the revenue from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. The department will receive £575 million during the current spending review period, which will be used to: Double funding for the primary physical education and Sport Premium to £320 million a year from 2017. The Department for Education and the Department of Health contribute £100 million and £60 million per year to the premium respectively, with the Soft Drinks Levy funding contributing £415 million over the remainder of the current spending review period, table attached.Provide £100 million in 2018/19 for a new healthy pupils capital fund.Provide £60 million to other relevant projects, for example breakfast clubs (£26 million over the next three years) and essential life skills programme. Expected revenue from the levy during the Spending Review period is £550 million for the UK as a whole. The total funding provided for these programmes in England is £575 million. In addition, the devolved administrations will continue to benefit in full from the Barnett formula arising from the levy-funded spending package announced at the 2016 Budget. We announced in February 2017 that the healthy pupils capital programme will build on the government’s plans for schools to provide a longer school day, by changing the focus of the scheme to provide new facilities or improve existing ones to make it easier for a range of extra-curricular activities to be provided.   



Funding for the premium from the soft drinks levy
(Word Document, 22.29 KB)

Music: GCSE

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether students taking music as a GCSE subject perform better overall in the Progress 8 measure.

Nick Gibb: Pupils who take music have higher progress 8 scores. This may not be the result of taking music and may be the result of taking more GCSEs.The average progress 8[1] scores of pupils in state funded schools[2], at the end of key stage 4[3], split by whether they entered a GCSE or equivalent[4] qualification in music[5], are presented in the tables below. Academic year 2016/17[6] Total pupilsAverage Progress 8 scoreLower confidence interval[7]Upper confidence interval7Pupils not entering music5460,593-0.05-0.05-0.05Pupils entering music539,0280.210.200.22 Academic year 2015/166 Total pupilsAverage Progress 8 scoreLower confidence interval7Upper confidence interval7Pupils not entering music5469,513-0.05-0.05-0.05Pupils entering music542,5400.180.170.19   Progress 8 is a new measure which schools and pupils are still adjusting to and with the ongoing transition to reformed GCSE’s, it is expected that Progress 8 scores will be prone to fluctuations initially. Progress 8 is a measure which focuses on each pupil’s ‘starting point’ (key stage 2 attainment) and the progress they make, therefore more analysis is required to unpick which, if any, factors have a definitive influence on these scores. With data for only two years, it is too soon to draw conclusions. More information on Progress 8 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/659860/Secondary_accountability_measures_guide.pdf.State-funded schools include academies, free schools, city technology colleges, further education colleges with provision for 14- to 16-year-olds and state-funded special schools. They exclude independent schools, independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, hospital schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision.Pupils are identified as being at the end of key stage 4 if they were on roll at the school and in year 11 at the time of the January school census for that year. Age is calculated as at 31 August for that year, and the majority of pupils at the end of key stage 4 were age 15 at the start of the academic year. Some pupils may complete this key stage in an earlier or later year group.Includes entries in graded music qualifications.Pupils are recorded as ‘entering music’ if they sat at least one exam in any music qualification which is counted in the secondary school performance tables as a GCSE, equivalent or graded music qualification.2015/16 data is final; 2016/17 data is provisional.Progress 8 scores are estimates and the confidence intervals provide the likely bounds of the true score. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/659860/Secondary_accountability_measures_guide.pdf. There are also significantly fewer pupils entering music than those who do not, this can lead to undue influence by outliers in the smaller cohort and it is not advised to draw definitive conclusions when the data is mismatched in this way.

ICT: Teachers

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 4.25 of Autumn Budget 2017, how much of the £84million allocated to upskill computer science teachers will be spent in each year of the 2017 Parliament.

Nick Gibb: The Department has been allocated £13 million in 2018-2019, £21 million in 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022, and £8 million in 2022-2023 (total of £84 million) to upskill up to 8,000 computer science teachers and establish a National Centre for Computing Education.

Steve Lamey

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answers of 21 November to Questions 113368, 113370 and 113371, for what reasons those answers did not refer to discussions with (a) the Minister for the Cabinet Office, (b) Sir Paul Jenkins and (c) fellow shareholders in the Student Loans Company on the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the chief executive of that company.

Joseph Johnson: I have had no discussions with either the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Sir Paul Jenkins, or fellow shareholders in the Student Loans Company (SLC) on the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the chief executive of that company.As I stated previously, the dismissal of Steve Lamey following independent investigations into allegations raised was a matter for the SLC to consider as his employer, in line with established SLC processes.

Teachers: ICT and Mathematics

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Autumn Budget 2017, table 2.1, line 32, how much of the (a) £30 million in 2018-19 and (b) £50 million in 2019-20 will be spent on each policy listed in paragraphs 4.24 and 4.25.

Nick Gibb: The £30 million of funding in 2018-19 and £50 million of funding in 2019-20 in table 2.1 includes the costs in 2018-19 and 2019-20 for the below measures.£13 million in 2018-19 and £21 million in 2019-20 to upskill computer science teachers and set up a National Centre for Computing Education£6 million in 2018-19 and £6 million in 2019-20 to expand the Teaching for Mastery of Mathematics programme£7.2 million in 2018-19 and £6.5 million in 2019-20 for Further Education Centres of Excellence£3 million in 2019-20 for more specialist maths schools£5 million in 2019-20 to provide £600 for every pupil who decides to take Maths or Further Maths A levels or Core MathsThe figures in table 2.1 includes the Barnett consequential for these measures, which is provided to the Devolved Administrations.

Teachers: Mathematics

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Treasury Department's press release of 21 November 2017 entitled Britain to benefit from multi-million pound investment in education, how much will be spent from the public purse on each programme covered by the £177m investment in maths teaching.

Nick Gibb: The £177 million investment in Maths announced at the recent Budget comprises:£8.5 million for the post-16 basic Maths pilot;£40 million for Further Education Centres of Excellence;£27 million to expand the Teaching for Mastery of Mathematics programme;£83 million to provide £600 for every pupil who decides to take Maths or Further Maths A levels or Core Maths; and£18 million additional funding for specialist Maths Schools.This £177 million investment includes the costs of these measures until 2022-23.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether a local authority has the power to (a) withdraw or (b) threaten to withdraw funding for 30 hours free childcare if it believes that charges placed by a setting onto parents for additional extras such as food and consumables are excessive.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Local councils have the power to impose requirements on childcare providers as a condition of funding in order to ensure that the early years’ provision is free of charge and/or that any financial assistance provided by the local council is used properly and in accordance with the provisions of the agreement between the provider and the local council. It is for local councils to work together with providers when developing their agreements.

Pre-school Education: Apprentices

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason there is only one PVI representative on the Childcare and Education Panel recruited to scrutinise the Level 3 apprenticeship standard; and what assessment her Department has made of whether that is representative of the childcare and early education sector.

Anne Milton: The Institute for Apprenticeships is an independent body with responsibility for the development and approval of apprenticeship standards. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of the Institute, Sir Gerry Berragan, to write to the hon. Member for Batley and Spen directly responding to the question about the Childcare and Education Route Panel. A copy of that response will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses when it is available.

Unionlearn: Finance

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 4.23 of Autumn Budget 2017, how much her Department will provide to Unionlearn in each of the next two years.

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department provided to the Union Learning Fund in each of the last two financial years.

Anne Milton: Funding for Unionlearn was previously provided by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) but following the machinery of government changes in 2017, this responsibility moved across to the Department for Education. BIS provided Unionlearn with £14 million in the financial year 2015-16 and £12 million in the financial year 2016-17. The department is providing £11.89 million funding in the current financial year and a further £12 millon in financial year 2018-19 and £12 million in financial year 2019-20.

Pre-school Education: Apprentices

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many early years apprenticeships have been started in each of the last three years; and what proportion of those apprentices were employed in PVI settings.

Anne Milton: The number of starts for the sector framework ‘Children’s Care Learning and Development’ by academic year are below.Academic year2014/152015/162016/17Number of starts21,90024,16027,200Further information on breakdowns by framework or standard are available at the links below.For final 2016/17 data: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/661049/201617_apprenticeships_by_framework_and_sector_subject_area.xlsx.For data on previous years: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/650226/201617_Oct_Apps_Level_SSA_And_Framework_Data_Tool_FINAL.xlsx. These data are collected from the Individualised Learner Record. We do not collect information on types of settings and so are unable to identify private, voluntary or independent settings from the collection.

Child Minding

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of childminders.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Childminders are an important part of the childcare sector and can often provide a level of flexibility that other providers cannot. To encourage new childminders into the market and to support existing childminders, we have made it easier for them to work outside of the home and play a full role in the 30 hours free childcare entitlement. This includes setting an expectation that they should be paid monthly by councils, offering start-up grants to new childminders delivering the free offer, supporting childminders to improve their business skills and creating new partnerships between childminders and schools.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Wild Boar

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to reduce the number of wild boar to protect their habitat.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra has no plans to reduce the number of wild boar. The responsibility for carrying out the management of wild boar, as with other wildlife, lies with local communities and individual landowners and managers. The Government and its partner organisations, such as the Deer Initiative, facilitate boar management by providing advice and guidance.

Packaging: Recycling

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues and others on encouraging supermarkets to make more packaging recyclable; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I have regular dialogue on waste, including recycling, with Cabinet colleagues on the recyclability of packaging. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North Swindon on 13 September 2017, PQ UIN 8711.

Recycling

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more people to recycle.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is committed to increasing recycling rates. With the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) we are working with local councils and industry to make it easier for households to recycle, by rationalising packaging formats (in particular ridged plastic packaging) to those that are recyclable and to expand the range of materials collected for recycling. WRAP has refreshed and relaunched its national Recycle Now campaign with new communication materials for local authorities and others. Information on what householders can recycle locally is available on the Recycle Now website.

Flood Control

Trudy Harrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure that water companies invest in flood mitigation.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: On 13 September, the Government issued a strategic policy statement to Ofwat. This set out clear priorities for Ofwat to secure the water industry’s long-term resilience to flooding, drought, and other risks, and to protect vulnerable customers. The policy statement makes clear that we expect Ofwat to challenge companies to assess the resilience of their systems and infrastructure against flooding and take proportionate steps to improve resilience where required.

Flood Control: Cumbria

Trudy Harrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Government has invested in Cumbria to reduce the risk of flooding downstream of reservoirs in each of the last five years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency has strategic oversight of all sources of flooding and coastal erosion, including reservoir flooding. The Environment Agency also has a regulatory role in managing flood risk with reservoirs and works to make sure reservoir owners effectively manage their own flood risk. Where appropriate, reducing the risk of flooding downstream from reservoirs is integrated within flood risk management schemes. The Environment Agency does not collect separate financial information for measures to reduce this specific flood risk. The Government is committed to reducing flood risk and has made the following capital investment to flood and coastal erosion risk management in Cumbria in each of the last five years: 2012/13£ 4.3 million2013/14£ 2.4 million2014/15£ 2.1 million2015/16£ 3.0 million2016/17£ 14.3 million

Agriculture: Exports

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on agricultural exports of there being no deal between the UK and the EU.

George Eustice: In 2016, UK food, feed and drink exports to the EU were worth £12 billion and EU food, feed and drink exports to the UK were worth £30 billion. It is in the interests of both parties to conclude a comprehensive customs agreement. We are conducting rigorous analysis on various trade scenarios for the future to inform Government policy.

Air Pollution

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to change the number of active clean air monitoring sites.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The national monitoring network consists of 276 sites across the UK. Monitoring stations for a wide range of pollutants are sited in accordance with criteria set out in the EU Air Quality Directive to ensure that the data gathered are representative and also comparable across all Member States. The network is kept under review by the Environment Agency and the Department to ensure it remains fit for purpose and compliant, while delivering value for money. There are no immediate plans to make significant changes to the number or location of sites that are part of the national network.

School Milk

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to begin discussions on a new domestic school milk subsidy programme to replace the current EU Scheme.

George Eustice: As we leave the EU we have a great opportunity to reshape policies to meet our national priorities. We are considering the longer term approach to the EU school milk scheme in the context of our domestic schemes. Any future changes in this area will be subject to wide consultation with stakeholders.

Animal Products: Imports

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2016 to Question 40644, what progress his Department has made on implementing the ban on lion trophy imports?

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra is looking carefully at the issue of lion hunting and associated imports. We take the conservation of lions seriously and imports are subject to strict controls. We already have import suspensions in place for countries where hunting is not considered sustainable.

Department for Exiting the European Union

EU Law

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2017 to Question 110712, on EU law, what representations he has received from businesses on differences to rules and regulations between the UK and the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK Government is committed to making the UK the best place in the world to do business and ministers from across Government have carried out extensive engagement on EU exit - with businesses and industry bodies from all sectors of the economy and all regions of the UK. To make the UK the best place to do business means fostering a high quality, stable and predictable regulatory environment. This means the Withdrawal Bill will, so far as possible, maintain the status quo in this regard and provide a good starting point for a deep and special partnership with the EU. Through the Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill we will legislate for the Implementation Period. As the PM said in her Florence speech, the framework for this strictly time-limited period, which can be agreed under Article 50, would be the existing structure of EU rules and regulations. With regards to the future regulatory relationship this is subject to negotiations, but as the PM set out this should be straightforward in areas where regulation is outside the scope of our trade and economic relations. But there will be areas which do affect our economic relations where we and our European friends may have different goals; or where we share the same goals but want to achieve them through different means. This is where we recognise that the single market is built on a balance of rights and obligations, and so our task is to find a new framework that allows for a close economic partnership but holds those rights and obligations in a new and different balance. As negotiations progress, we will continue to seek the input of businesses across a range of issues, including on the subject of rules and regulatory differences between the EU and UK.

EU Law

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the legal status of retained EU law under the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will be; and whether it will be liable to judicial review.

Mr Steve Baker: Retained EU law includes both preserved domestic legislation and converted direct EU legislation. The latter was not made by UK legislators and will operate in a different way to both primary and secondary legislation. It would therefore not be appropriate to assign a single status to this legislation for all purposes. Preserved domestic legislation will continue to hold the same status as it does currently (i.e. primary or secondary). Converted EU legislation will not automatically have primary or secondary status. Instead, the Bill sets out the status of this legislation for specified purposes in a number of places. For example, for the purposes of the Human Rights Act, it will be treated as primary legislation. Further regulations may be made under the Bill for the purpose of status under other statutes. Existing domestic legislation will remain amenable to judicial review as at present. In general (and subject to any further regulations made under the Bill), it will not be possible to challenge the validity of converted EU legislation. To do otherwise would raise uncertainties and practical difficulties as the EU instruments being converted were not made by UK Ministers but by EU institutions.

Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU)

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if his Department will publish a memorandum setting out what rights contained in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights the UK will retain when the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Steve Baker: The Government has committed to publishing a detailed memorandum setting out how each Article in the Charter of Fundamental Rights will be reflected in UK law after we leave the European Union. This will be published on 5 December.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Postal Services

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what security measures his Department has in place relating to the receipt by his Department of incoming post and parcels; and what discussions he has had with the British Forces Postal Office on providing such services.

Mr Steve Baker: This information cannot be disclosed as it may jeopardise the Department’s Protective Security stance. However, as Department Exiting the European Union is a tenant in other government department’s buildings, it abides by the rules and regulations that they stipulate for the delivery and management of mail and parcels. All secure mail is handled as part of the Government Secure Mail Service, which may include the use of the British Forces Postal Office, but the Department has not had any direct communications with the BFPO about providing these services.

Attorney General

Domestic Violence: Prosecutions

Diana Johnson: To ask the Attorney General, how many charges the Crown Prosecution Service has brought against people under section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 for alleged controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship in each year since that section of that Act came into force.

Jeremy Wright: Holding answer received on 28 November 2017



The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not collect data on defendants prosecuted by specific offence. However, the table below shows the number of offences recorded in the magistrates' courts for the offence of controlling or coercive behaviour since its implementation on 29 December 2015. This figure relates to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants.2015-20162016-20175309

Wales Office

Agriculture: Subsidies

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what meetings he has had with farmers’ unions and representatives of rural communities on replacing common agricultural policy subsidies to UK farmers.

Alun Cairns: As befits their importance to the Welsh economy, my ministerial team and I regularly meet with farmers’ unions and representatives of rural communities to discuss a number of issues, including the impact of the UK leaving the European Union. Most recently, the UK Government Minister for Wales, Guto Bebb MP, along with the Minister for Farming, George Eustice MP, met with the Farmers Union of Wales on 13 November and the National Farmers Union Cymru on 15 November. Both the FUW and NFU Cymru, along with the Country Land and Business Association, are members of my Expert Panel. The panel meets regularly, and last met on 6 November.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Drugs

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with prison governors about the use of talking therapies to help prisoners with drug dependency.

Dr Phillip Lee: NHS England commission all healthcare services in prisons, including the use of talking therapies. Since April 2017, we have empowered Governors to have greater input into decision making with NHS England commissioners to ensure their prison have effective healthcare services. Health service providers and Governors recognise that talking therapies are an integral part of all substance misuse psychosocial interventions.

Prisons: Drugs

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the implementation of a smoking ban on narcotics use in prisons.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Guidance has been developed, in conjunction with Public Health England to provide information and practical advice to staff to assist with managing the potential risks associated with narcotics. There are strategies in place to reduce the supply of narcotics and detection of all psychotic substances (PS). This include the empowerment and training of staff to tackle PS use. We have also taken swift action to stop the supply of drugs into all our prisons, equipping all prisons with portable and fixed detectors to tackle illicit use of phones in prisons. We are working with the police to catch and convict criminal using drones to smuggle contraband into prisons, and are testing physical and technological countermeasures to stop incursions.

Magistrates' Courts

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons his Department uses the Witness Service to supply drinking water to victims at magistrates courts.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ministry of Justice grant funds the court based Witness Service for the provision of emotional and practical support to witnesses giving evidence in criminal courts in England and Wales. The Witness Service does not have a specific responsibility to provide drinking water in courts but has, in the past, put in place arrangements for the provision of drinking water in a number of witness waiting areas where they did not exist as this is an element of supporting witnesses as they prepare to give evidence.

Ministry of Justice: ICT

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on (a) phones, (b) computers and (c) iPads in each of the last three years.

Dr Phillip Lee: The information requested is not held centrally. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) comprises many organisations including Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs). Each organisation holds separate contracts for these IT products and this information is not held or collated centrally.

Prisons: Smoking

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison disturbances have been linked to the ban on tobacco use on the prison estate in each prison facility since that ban was implemented.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Maintaining order and control in our prisons is our priority and this large-scale project has been carefully managed. There is no evidence to link smoking as the causal factor in any incidents this year where national resources were deployed.

Prisons: Smoking

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department received representations from the Prison Governors Association on the banning of the use of tobacco on the prison estate; and if he will place a copy of any such representations in the Library.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Prison Governors Association (PGA) made no representation on the banning of the use of tobacco on the prison estate.Throughout the roll out, the PGA have been briefed regularly on the progress of the project including details of the prisons which sit in each phase of the roll out.

Prisons: Smoking

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department received representations from Action on Smoking and Health on the banning of the use of tobacco on the prison estate; and if he will place a copy of any such representations in the Library.

Mr Sam Gyimah: There have been no representations received from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) on the banning of the use of tobacco on the prison estate. The Director of ASH, Deborah Arnott is a member of the national smoke free prisons project board and is informed of the progress of the roll out.

Prisons: Drugs

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the level of use of synthetic drugs in prisons in each of the the last three years.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many seizures of synthetic drugs there have been in each prison in each of the last 3 years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Psychoactive substances are a significant driver of violence and instability in prisons. We have put in place a range of supply and demand reduction measures to address the availability and use of such harmful substances. This is based on a multi-agency approach working closely with health partners and law enforcement agencies. We are the first prison jurisdiction in the world to have developed a test for psychoactive substances, and have trained more than 300 sniffer dogs to specifically detect psychoactive substances. We have invested £3m in enhancing our intelligence capability to identify the organised crime groups and individuals behind supply routes, and are using this intelligence to work with the police to disrupt them.Figures drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System suggest there were just under 10,000 incidents where psychoactive substances were found in prisons between October 2015 and October 2017 in England and Wales. Data prior to October 2015 cannot be provided as this is when a new incident type was introduced to the Incident Reporting System.Testing for psychoactive substances was only in place across the whole prison estate from September 2016 onwards. Between October 2016 and March 2017, there were 27,277 random mandatory drug tests administered. Each sample taken is tested for a range of illicit drugs, including psychoactive substances. As these are random drugs tests, prisoners tested in a single month are unique, but an individual prisoner could be chosen in multiple months. Figures for 2017/18 will be published in the Annual HMPPS Digest in July 2018.

Convictions: EU Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) Romanian, (b) Bulgarian, (c) Polish and (d) Croatian nationals were convicted of offences in the UK in each of the last 3 years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Any foreign national who comes to our country and abuses our hospitality by breaking the law should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them. Since 2010 more than 38,000 have been removed from prisons, Immigration Removal Centres and the community, and last year a record number of over 6,300 were removed. Information on convictions in England and Wales for these four nationalities is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However, information is available on the total number of foreign prisoners held by HM Prison and Probation Service in England and Wales; this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2017. This information provides the total number of prisoners by nationality, with the total including unconvicted, convicted, and sentenced prisoners. In relation to convictions in Scotland and Northern Ireland, these are matters for the respective devolved administrations.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the results of the Government's review of the latest draft clauses on the discount rate reforms.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Justice Select Committee is conducting a pre-legislative scrutiny inquiry into the draft legislation published by the Ministry of Justice on 7 September (Cm 9500). The Government will respond to the Committee’s conclusions and other comments received on the draft legislation within two months of the publication of the Committee’s report.

Oakhill Secure Training Centre

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to further review the performance and management of Oakhill training centre following the recent Ofsted inspection report.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ofsted inspection report on Oakhill Secure Training Centre is unacceptable and we have taken urgent action to address the concerns raised by Ofsted. A new interim Director, with extensive experience, has been appointed at Oakhill and an experienced HMPPS Governor has been brought in to provide extra scrutiny. We are robustly monitoring performance against the contract and are clear that we will take further steps, if needed, to improve delivery. More widely across the estate, we are investing £64 million to reform youth custody and increase staffing, to improve safety and reduce violence.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to implement the recommendations of the HM Inspectorate of Probation and HM Inspectorate of Prisons report Through the Gate resettlement services for prisoners serving 12 months or more, published in October 2016.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We acknowledge that current delivery of Through the Gate services is falling short of our expectations. We are continuing work with providers to improve delivery throughout England and Wales and the findings and recommendations from HMI Probation’s thematic reports are informing this work. The performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), including their delivery of Through the Gate, is assessed through a range of service levels and through a robust contract management and assurance process. Our contract management teams continue to carry out regular assurance of Through the Gate delivery, and host regular local review meetings with CRCs, the National Probation Service (NPS) and prisons, identifying and working through resolutions of any issues. We have made changes to how CRCs are paid for future years so they can focus on activities that best rehabilitate offenders and keep society safe.

Berwyn Prison

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the level of turnover in staff at HM Prison Berwyn since that prison opened in Spring 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Berwyn has to date (Friday 24 November) a total of 570 direct employees (this is headcount and not Full Time Equivalents, FTE), since the start we have had 27 resignations. This is a total turnover of 4.7%, 11 of these were Prison Officers which equates to a turnover of 1.9%.

Berwyn Prison

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents of seizures of drugs at HM Prison Berwyn have been recorded since that prison opened in Spring 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We take a zero-tolerance approach to drugs in our prisons. Anyone found with contraband will be subject to disciplinary action and police investigation. We are taking unprecedented action to stop the supply and use of drugs, including an innovative new drug testing programme and have over 300 dogs to detect psychoactive substances. We have also invested £3 million in enhanced intelligence, to improve our targeted intelligence and search capabilities. We are working closely with government partners to address issues with drugs at every stage of the supply chain, including those attempting to smuggle drugs into prisons. Figures drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System show that there were 24 incidents recorded where drugs were found in HMP Berwyn between March and October 2017. These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Berwyn Prison

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents of assault on prison staff have been recorded as crimes at HM Prison Berwyn since that prison opened in Spring 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults by prisoners on staff at HM Prison Berwyn have been dealt with by internal disciplinary hearings since that prison opened in Spring 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoner-on-prisoner assaults have been recorded as crimes at HM Prison Berwyn since that prison opened in Spring 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoner-on-prisoner assaults at HM Prison Berwyn have been dealt with by internal disciplinary hearings since that prison opened in Spring 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We take crime in prison extremely seriously. All allegations of assault by prisoners are investigated, and rigorous action is taken against the perpetrators. Serious assaults are referred to the Police for criminal investigation. We do not hold data on how many such incidents are recorded as crimes. HMP Berwyn opened on 28 February 2017. The figures in the table below cover the period to June 2017, which is the latest for which data is available. “Adjudication” refers to cases dealt with through internal prisoner disciplinary hearings.  Prisoner assaulted member of staffPrisoner assaulted another prisonerAdjudication82Referred to Police10

Berwyn Prison

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions ambulances have been called to HM Prison Berwyn since that prison opened in Spring 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: There have been 43 occasions where the ambulance service has been required to enter HMP Berwyn since opening in Spring 2017.

Berwyn Prison

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service has been called to HM Prison Berwyn since that prison opened in Spring 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: There have been 4 occasions where the Fire Service has been required to enter HMP Berwyn since opening in Spring 2017. All fires were extinguished by the time the fire service arrived at Berwyn.

Berwyn Prison

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners from HM Prison Berwyn have attended accident and emergency departments at local district general hospitals since that prison opened in Spring 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Since opening in Spring 2017, a total of 69 men have attended the local Accident and Emergency department at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

Bedford Prison

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many additional days of imprisonment were imposed as punishment on prisoners at HM Prison Bedford during 2016?

Mr Sam Gyimah: The number of additional days awarded to prisoners at HM Prison Bedford as a result of adjudications in 2016 was 26. Discipline procedures are central to the maintenance of a safe custodial environment. They are provided for by the Prison and Young Offender Institution Rules, which require adjudications to be conducted lawfully, fairly and justly. Independent Adjudicators are District Judges or Deputy District Judges who attend prisons and young offender institutions when necessary to hear those adjudication cases which are deemed to be sufficiently serious. Such cases may merit a punishment of additional days to a prisoner’s time spent in custody if the prisoner or young person is found guilty. Only Independent Adjudicators can make an award of additional days as a punishment. The most serious offences will be referred to the Police.

Prisoners' Transfers: Gender Recognition

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were transferred from a male to a female prison after reassigning their gender in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017, and how many of those prisoners in each of those years had been convicted of sex-related offences.

Dr Phillip Lee: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Justice: Vacancies

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies there were in his Department in each month since January 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Phillip Lee: The following table shows how many recruitment campaigns and how many vacant posts (excluding Senior Civil Servants - SCS) were advertised by MoJ during each month since October 2016, using the department’s e-recruitment system, WCN. Data is not available prior to October 2016, as MoJ no longer has access to data from the previous e-recruitment system, i-Grasp, that was in use before this date. The data does not include campaign information for certain posts that are not advertised on WCN, such as those that are part of certain professional, cross-government schemes. Table 1: Vacant posts advertised on WCN since October 2016 (excluding SCS) DateNumber of Campaigns Advertised on WCNNumber of Vacant Posts Advertised on WCNOct 166691830Nov 169662543Dec 167772043Jan 178192385Feb 177822331Mar 178842124Apr 175361569May 175182049Jun 175451534Jul 175171485Aug 175821445Sep 174831132Oct 175351768Nov 17 (until 24/11/17)403997 The following table shows how many Senior Civil Service (SCS) vacancies were recruited for MoJ from January 2015. Table 2: Vacant SCS posts advertised on behalf of MoJ by Civil Service Resourcing since January 2015 Number of vacant SCS posts advertised on behalf of MoJ by Civil Service ResourcingJan 20152Feb 20152Mar 20159Apr 20150May 20156Jun 20152Jul 20156Aug 20151Sep 20151Oct 20153Nov 20158Dec 20152Jan 20168Feb 20162Mar 20167Apr 20165May 20167Jun 201612Jul 20167Aug 20162Sep 201614Oct 20163Nov 20168Dec 20166Jan 20175Feb 20174Mar 201711Apr 20178May 20173Jun 20175Jul 20176Aug 20178Sep 20174Oct 20173Nov 2017 (until 24/11/17)4 MoJ’s recruitment has been subject to a recruitment freeze since October 2015, and recruitment controls are in place to support this. MoJ implemented the Civil Service Recruitment Framework in April 2017, which applies to all civil servants except SCS, and the recruitment approaches the department uses are consistent with those in other departments. MoJ’s recruitment is regulated by the Civil Service Commission, and MoJ adheres to its recruitment principles.

Prisoners: Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September to question 9658, on prison: suicides, how many prisoners have died by suicide in each prison in England in each month of 2017 to date.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Data on deaths in prison custody is published quarterly in the Safety in Custody statistics. The most recent statistics were published on 26 October 2017 and cover deaths in prison custody to September 2017. Data at individual prison level is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/654510/deaths-data-tool.xlsx.

Cabinet Office

Intelligence and Security Committee

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he expects the Intelligence Security Committee for the current Parliament to be formally reconstituted; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Green: Holding answer received on 17 October 2017



The Intelligence and Security Committee has been appointed following the approval of motions in both Houses of Parliament.

Members: Email

Justin Madders: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether electronic communications from hon. Members to Ministers are passed through any third parties before they reach their recipient.

Caroline Nokes: Electronic communications are passed across the internet via internet service providers and the routing of an email between an Hon Member and a Government department is dependent on which system and service an email is sent. Ministers’ Private Offices and correspondence teams routinely handle and respond to emails on behalf of their Ministers.

Electronic Government

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what products have been sold through Common Technology Services; to which Departments those products have been sold; and what the value is of each such product.

Caroline Nokes: Information on the range of services available under the Crown Commercial Service’s Technology Services Framework (RM1058) can be found at:http://ccs-agreements.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/contracts/rm1058 A total of £92, 568, 225 has been spent on services through this framework. The following organisations have used this framework:Aberdeen City CouncilAneurin Bevan University Health BoardArena and Convention Centre LtdArmy Training DepartmentBank of EnglandBarking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS TrustBarnfield West AcademyBarts Health NHS TrustBasildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustBBCBBC ProcurementBedford Borough CouncilBetsi Cadwaladr University Health BoardBig Lottery FundBirmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation TrustBlack Country Partnership NHS Foundation TrustBracknell Forest Borough CouncilBridgewater Community Healthcare NHS TrustBristol City CouncilBritish Transport PoliceCabinet OfficeCambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustCambridgeshire Fire and Rescue ServiceCardiff CouncilChildren and Family Court Advisory and Support ServiceCleveland College of Art and DesignCommunity Health PartnershipsCompetition CommissionCorby Business AcademyCoventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS TrustCriminal Injuries Compensation AuthorityCriminal Justice InspectorateDefence Electronics and Components AgencyDefence Equipment and Support (Bath)Defence Equipment and Support Information Services and SystemsDepartment for Business Energy & Industrial StrategyDepartment for EducationDepartment for Environment, Food & Rural AffairsDepartment for International DevelopmentDepartment for TransportDerby Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustDerbyshire ConstabularyDorset County Hospital NHS Foundation TrustDriver and Vehicle Licensing AgencyEast Ayrshire CouncilEast Cheshire NHS TrustEast Lancashire Hospitals NHS TrustEast Midlands Ambulance Service NHS TrustEast Sussex Healthcare NHS TrustEden District CouncilEpsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS TrustEssex PoliceFrimley Park Hospital Nhs TrustGloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustGovernment Actuary's DepartmentGovernment Commercial FunctionGreat Ormond Street HospitalGuys and St Thomas NHS Foundation TrustHanover Housing AssociationHealth and Safety ExecutiveHealth Research AuthorityHeart of England NHS Foundation TrustHighways EnglandHistoric EnglandHM Prison Service Shared ServicesHome OfficeHome Office Scientific Development BranchHomes and Communities AgencyHS2 LimitedInformation Centre for Health and Social CareJames Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustKent County CouncilKent PoliceKettering General Hospital NHS Foundation TrustKings College Hospital NHS Foundation TrustLand RegistryLincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation TrustLondon Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham CouncilLondon Borough of Lambeth CouncilMaidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS TrustManchester City CouncilMedicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory AgencyMedway NHS Foundation TrustMet OfficeMid Essex Hospital Services NHS TrustMid Essex NHS TrustMidland HeartMidlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support UnitMINISTRY OF DEFENCEMinistry Of Defence Director Financial ManagementMinistry of JusticeMoorfields Eye Hospital NHS TrustNational ArchivesNational Audit OfficeNational Library Of ScotlandNational Museums Of ScotlandNHS Blood And TransplantNHS Connecting for HealthNHS DigitalNHS Forth ValleyNHS HertfordshireNHS Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning GroupNHS North and East London Commissioning Support UnitNHS South East LondonNorth Cumbria University Hospitals NHS TrustNorth East London NHS Foundation TrustNorth Lanarkshire CouncilNorth West London Commissioning PartnershipNorth Yorkshire PoliceNorthampton General Hospital NHS TrustNorthern Lighthouse BoardNottingham University Hospitals NHS TrustNottinghamshire County CouncilOrdnance SurveyPeterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustPortsmouth Hospitals NHS TrustPublic Health EnglandRegisters of ScotlandRotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation TrustRotherham Metropolitan Borough CouncilRoyal Bournemouth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust TheRoyal Free London NHS Foundation TrustRoyal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS TrustRural Payments AgencySalford Royal NHS Foundation TrustSandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS TrustSandwell Metropolitan Borough CouncilScottish Police AuthorityScottish Prison ServiceShropshire Community Health NHS TrustShropshire CouncilSkills Development ScotlandSouth Ayrshire CouncilSouth Tees Hospital NHS Foundation TrustSouth Wales PoliceSt Georges Healthcare NHS TrustStockport NHS Foundation TrustStratton Upper SchoolStudent Loans CompanySupplier Nil ReturnSurrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS TrustSurrey County CouncilTelford and Wrekin CouncilThe National ArchivesThe Pensions RegulatorThe Water Services Regulation AuthorityUK Atomic Energy AuthorityUK Hydrographic OfficeUK Shared Business Services LimitedUniversity Hospital of North Midlands NHS TrustUniversity Hospitals of Bristol NHS Foundation TrustUniversity Hospitals of North Midlands NHS TrustUniversity of AberdeenUniversity of GloucestershireVictoria Health CentreWakefield MDCWarrington Borough CouncilWatford Borough CouncilWest Midlands Police AuthorityWirral Metropolitan Borough CouncilWorcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS TrustYork Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation TrustZero Waste Scotland To provide information on the cost of each item provided would incur a disproportionate cost. RM1058 was replaced by Technology Services 2 (RM3804), which came into effect on 6 September 2017. Information on the range of services available under this framework can be found athttp://ccs-agreements.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/contracts/rm3804 As this is a new agreement, no spend data is available at present.

Electoral Register: Internet

Alex Norris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of setting up an online service for voters to check whether they are already registered to vote for the purposes of reducing the number of duplicate applications.

Chris Skidmore: I refer you to my answer to the member for Lancaster and Fleetwood. Determining an individual’s registration status is the responsibility of Electoral Registration Officers and only EROs hold up-to-date information allowing a citizen to check if they are registered. This means that citizens can contact their local electoral administration office to make enquiries about registration status.Making information about registration status available on-line on a national basis would be a significant undertaking and we have no current plans to introduce such a system. It may be more appropriate for EROs to work with their software suppliers to make registers available for checking on-line.

Ministers: Autobiography

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what records his Department holds on the use of the Radcliffe exclusion rule recommended by the Radcliffe Committee of Enquiry into Civil Service Security Procedure.

Caroline Nokes: The then Prime Minister (Mr Blair) announced to the House on 19 June 1997 (Col WA 246) the creation of the independent Security Vetting Appeals Panel, to hear appeals against the refusal or withdrawal of security clearance. The establishment of the Panel, chaired by a senior retired member of the judiciary, brought to an end the role of the Three Advisers who, since 1948, had been available to consider cases where security clearance was refused or withdrawn on the grounds of subversion. The last reference to the Three Advisers was made in 1967. In his statement to Parliament on 27 July 2010, the Prime Minister (Mr Cameron) set out HMG policy on security vetting underlining its critical importance in protecting UK interests and its application to those with access to sensitive Government assets and placed in the library a document setting out Government policy in this area (Government Security Controls)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/299547/HMG_Personnel_Security_Controls.pdf.This includes the mechanisms available to individuals to appeal against adverse security vetting decisions. The Government continues to attach importance to security vetting as part of its work to protect the country and its citizens, but it recognises the rights of individuals to appeal against adverse decisions internally and, if they are aggrieved about the outcome, to appeal to the Panel.

Government Departments: Telephone Services

Chris Stephens: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that third-party telephone providers do not have access to Government helplines; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: Government Helpline services are procured from a wide range of Telecommunication providers in the UK. These services are contracted by Government from the Telecommunication market in accordance with both Ofcom regulation and the Data Protection act. As such third party telecommunications providers are an integral part of the Government supply chain, and Government is taking no steps to remove third party Telecommunications providers from ensuring that citizens can communicate with Government easily.

Cabinet Office: Written Questions

Justin Madders: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to Question 108821, tabled on 19 October 2017 by the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston.

Caroline Nokes: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question 108821 on 28 November 2017.

Electoral Register: Disability

Alex Norris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) joining up existing disability registers with the electoral register and (b) recording preferences on accessing information on the electoral register.

Chris Skidmore: Holding answer received on 15 November 2017



In response to the recent Department of Health consultation on the future use of the CVI, I expressed my support to allow someone to provide their consent for the local authority to use the information to provide support at elections for blind and partially sighted voters, and my officials are currently working with their DH colleagues to determine how this can be implemented.Local authorities already hold a register of partially sighted and blind people and are expected to use this information to ensure that election communications are provided to named citizens in accessible formats.On 5th September, at the meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Learning Disability, I launched a Call for Evidence to support the Government’s commitment to ensure the electoral system is accessible for all electors. The deadline for responses was 14th November 2017 and around 250 responses have been received.The Government, in partnership with the members of the Cabinet-Office-chaired Accessibility of Elections Working Group, which includes representatives from leading charities and key electoral stakeholders, will now review the evidence received and produce a report of key findings and recommendations. The aim is to publish the report in Spring 2018.

Electoral Register

Alex Norris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of eligible people not on the electoral register for the last five general elections in (a) the UK and (b) Nottingham North.

Chris Skidmore: Holding answer received on 15 November 2017



Information regarding the total number of unregistered people of voting age is not held by the Government. Only totals for the number of registered electors are held, and these can be accessed through the Office For National Statistics website. It should be noted, however, that registration levels have increased at every General Election since 2005, and the register used for the 2017 General Election was the largest in our history, standing at 46.9 million entries. This is undoubtedly due, in large part, to the introduction of the Government’s Register to Vote website, which has delivered great benefits to electors, making registering to vote simpler and more accessible than ever before.It is the Government’s intention to build on this success by publishing a Democratic Engagement Plan in December, which will have the ambition of making the General Election in 2022 the most inclusive to date.

Cabinet Office: Telephone Services

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which public telephone lines for his Department's services are charged at higher rates; and how much was taken by each such telephone line in the last 12 months.

Caroline Nokes: Cabinet Office has no public telephone lines that are charged at higher rates.

Government Departments: Telephone Services

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department's 2013 guidance that ordered Departments to stop using higher-rate telephone lines for key services was ever revoked or updated.

Caroline Nokes: Holding answer received on 13 November 2017



In December 2013 the Government published guidance on departments’ use of telephone prefixes and freephone numbers. This was updated and published in October 2015 and can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470411/20151006_Customer_phone_lines_draft_guidance_October_2015.pdf

Public Sector: Procurement

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will implement a moratorium on those companies which are being investigated as a result of the Paradise Papers being awarded public sector contracts.

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government plans to take as a result of information in the Paradise Papers relating to companies that hold existing government contracts.

Caroline Nokes: The 2015 Public Contract Regulations implemented the latest EU Public Procurement Directive, and introduced a new obligation for public bodies to exclude suppliers from a procurement where the supplier has been found guilty of breaching its obligations in relation to payment of taxes. This has been established by a judicial or administrative decision having final effect within the relevant jurisdiction.

Government Departments: Grants

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government Grant Information Service will standardise its use of the 360Giving format across all Government departments.

Chris Skidmore: Holding answer received on 13 November 2017



The Cabinet Office Grants Efficiency Function developed the Government Grants Information system (GGIS) in close collaboration with 360Giving to align GGIS data collection requirements with their recommended standards. Data will be published at scheme level covering the 2017/18 financial year in 2018. It is not currently possible to estimate how many departments will be in a position to publish data to 360Giving Standards in 2018 because full data for 2017/18 has not yet been captured.

Prime Minister: Italy

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse was of translating and promoting the Prime Minister's speech in Florence on 22 September 2017 in (a) English, (b) German, (c) French, (d) Italian, (e) Spanish, (f) Polish, (g) Dutch and (h) any other languages.

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse was of his Department's advertising of the Prime Minister's speech in Florence on 22 September 2017 on (a) Facebook, (b) Twitter and (c) all other social media platforms.

Chris Skidmore: The Government regularly uses digital advertising to reach audiences with key messages both at home and abroad. Annual government advertising spend is around £140 million, of which £60 million is spent on digital channels. The Florence speech was an important moment as we approach the next stage of Brexit negotiations - discussing our future relationship with the EU once we have left. More detailed information will be published in the Government Communication Service’s annual report.

Cabinet Office: Written Questions

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to answer Question 109638, tabled on 25 October 2017.

Caroline Nokes: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question 109638 on 27 November 2017.

Local Government: Elections

Chris Green: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which local authorities expressed interest in conducting a voter ID pilot in polling stations for the May 2018 local elections but subsequently decided not to proceed with that pilot.

Chris Skidmore: The opportunity to pilot voter ID in May 2018 was offered to all local authorities in Great Britain and Woking, Gosport, Bromley, Swindon and Watford have committed to do so. In addition, Tower Hamlets will be piloting measures to improve the integrity of the postal vote process. In September 2017 we announced that Slough would also be piloting voter ID however it subsequently voted to withdraw from the pilot.While working with those that expressed interest over the following months the Cabinet Office and the local authorities themselves agreed on the extent of their participation, including their continuation to a live pilot or as a supportive reference authority. Participation is voluntary and a matter for each local authority

Electoral Register: North West

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many more people were registered to vote as of 1 November 2017 than was the case at the time of the publication of the official 2015 electoral register in (a) Liverpool, Walton constituency, (b) Liverpool and (c) the North West.

Chris Skidmore: Holding answer received on 20 November 2017



Data concerning the number people registered to vote is held by Electoral Registration Officers, not by the Government. Each year, figures relating to the 1 December published register are provided by Electoral Registration Officers to the Office for National Statistics. After processing, the ONS then publishes the collected statistics on its website. You can find these at goo.gl/uXB4aK. Statistics relating to the 1 December 2017 register will be available in 2018.

Electoral Register

Jim McMahon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of adults not registered to vote in each year from 2010 to date.

Chris Skidmore: Holding answer received on 20 November 2017



Data concerning the number people registered to vote is held by Electoral Registration Officers, not by the Government. Each year, figures relating to the 1 December published register are provided by Electoral Registration Officers to the Office for National Statistics. After processing, the ONS then publishes the collected statistics on its website. You can find these at goo.gl/uXB4aK. Statistics relating to the 1 December 2017 register will be available in 2018.

Technology

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) effect, (b) uptake and (c) observance of Government non-statutory guidance in the IT, technology and digital sector by industry, civil society and others.

Caroline Nokes: The Government Digital Service has lead responsibility for digital and technology guidance and standards in central Government, through the Digital by Default Service Standard, Government Service Design Manual and Technology Code of Practice. All Government departments are required to follow the standards and guidance when developing new IT and digital solutions. All standards and guidance are fully open and other organisations are welcome to follow the good practice set out in these documents.Although my department makes no formal assessment of the uptake of these standards and guidance beyond central government, we assure that central government meets these standards through spending controls and service assessments and via the monitoring of service performance on GOV.UK to assure that high quality services are delivered to users.

Deloitte

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2017 to Question 111537, on Deloitte, on how many occasions Deloitte reported to Government significant cyber security incidents in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Caroline Nokes: It is at the discretion of a company to choose whether to report cyber incidents to Government. The Government maintains the confidentiality of these reports and does not disclose the number of occasions an organisation has reported to us. The advice from the National Cyber Security Centre is that timely notification is strongly recommended.

Government Chief Scientific Adviser: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many candidates were considered for the position of Chief Scientific Adviser.

Damian Green: There were 18 applications for the position of Government Chief Scientific Adviser.

Government Departments: Contracts for Services

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department issues on the contractual obligations of private companies delivering Government services and the complaints procedures available to the public when those obligations are not met.

Caroline Nokes: The Cabinet Office has issued a Model Services Contract, which includes sections on contractual obligations and remedial procedures:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/526358/Model_Services_Contract_v1.02.pdf The Crown Commercial Service also published Procurement Policy Notes (PPNs) on a range of issues including supplier past performance and prompt payment in supply chains. PPNs can be found on GOV.UK:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/procurement-policy-notesThe Government Commercial Function has published a Supplier Code of Conduct, which sets out the standards we expect of those companies supplying goods and services to government:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/646497/2017-09-13_Official_Sensitive_Supplier_Code_of_Conduct_September_2017.pdf

Government Departments: Equality

Jo Stevens: To ask the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, what form of technical capacity the Government plans to provide to each relevant department to enable it to implement Sustainable Development Goal 5.

Caroline Nokes: The Government is committed to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals including Goal 5. The Cabinet Office's role is primarily to co-ordinate the departmental planning process to ensure all of our obligations are adequately reflected. My department also provides support to DfID as the lead department, however, all departments are responsible for their respective contributions to the delivery of the Goals by 2030. The departmental planning process is an effective tool in ensuring the Government is making progress in meeting our obligations, including on gender equality.

Domestic Violence Protection Orders

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Domestic Violence Protection Orders have been (a) applied for and (b) granted in the latest year for which information is available, broken down by the sex of the person subject to each order in each category.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response
(PDF Document, 112.66 KB)

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage third sector organisations to help increase the level of electoral registration.

Chris Skidmore: The Government recognises the vital role that civil society plays in promoting democratic engagement and electoral registration. We will continue to work closely with such organisations, including to deliver National Democracy Week in July 2018.

Electoral Register: Databases

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which (a) national and (b) local authority databases may be interrogated by electoral registration officers.

Chris Skidmore: Electoral registration officers have extensive powers in the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001 (RPR) and equivalent Regulations in Scotland. Regulation 23 allows an ERO to require information from any person for the purpose of fulfilling an ERO’s duty to maintain the electoral registers. This includes seeking to identify electors missing from the register who appear on other data sources. Failure of a person to comply with an EROs’ request under this regulation is an offence and could result in that person being subject to a fine. Other regulations within the RPR (35 and 35A) also allow an ERO to inspect, for the purpose of his/her registration duties, records kept by their local authority (including across different tiers of local councils) and any registrar of births, deaths and marriages.

Cervical Cancer

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, what change there has been in the number of deaths caused by cervical cancer in England in the last five years, broken down by age group; what strains of HPV have been identified as causes of death; and how many of those deaths occurred for women who had been vaccinated against HPV.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response
(PDF Document, 122.08 KB)

Average Earnings

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average income was for an (a) public and (b) private sector employee for each income decile in each of the last thirty years; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response
(PDF Document, 66.98 KB)

Public Sector: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 set at in Procurement Policy Note 04/15 on restricting the taking into account of past performance in awarding contracts on competition, social value and value for money from the public purse.

Caroline Nokes: UK public procurement policy is to award contracts on the basis of value for money, which means the optimum combination of cost and quality over the lifetime of the project. Wider socio-economic criteria can be taken into account at tender evaluation stage if they relate directly to the subject matter of a contract from the point of view of the contracting authority. The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 explicitly allows past performance to be taken into account, and we issued Procurement Policy Note 04/15 to assist public procurers to do so.

Government Departments: Business Plans

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance he gives to government departments on the (a) timetable for publication of their Single Departmental Plans and (b) extent of content reference in those plans to steps to attain the Sustainable Development Goals; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: Following the election, Cabinet Office asked departments to update their Single Departmental Plans. The Government intends to reflect updated SDPs on GOV.UK later this year. In updated plans, departments have been asked to outline how planned activity will support the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Public Sector: Cybercrime

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans his Department has to record centrally the number of cyber attacks on public services.

Caroline Nokes: The Cabinet Office does currently not plan to record centrally the number of cyber attacks against public services as each department manages incidents which affect the services they are responsible for. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), working with law enforcement partners, strongly encourages all organisations to report cyber attacks but this is currently voluntary for all such incidents. Those reports received by the NCSC are recorded.

Low Pay

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the change has been in the number of people employed full-time and earning less than £11,000 per annum from January (a) 2012 to (b) 2017.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response
(PDF Document, 66.12 KB)

Carillion

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a Crown Representative has been assigned to Carillion.

Caroline Nokes: As Carillion is a strategic supplier to Government, they have been assigned a Crown Representative.

Government Departments: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to Answer of 14 November 2017 to Question 111108 on Department for Exiting the European Union: Staff, what estimate he has made of the number of staff to be recruited in each Department; the grade at which staff will be recruited and what professions will be recruited.

Caroline Nokes: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 14 November 2017 to Question 111108.

Anti-corruption Champion

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to name a new anti-corruption champion.

Chris Skidmore: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Emigration: Zimbabwe

Liz McInnes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate his Department has made of the size of the Zimbabwean diaspora in the UK.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response
(PDF Document, 64.76 KB)

Carillion

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what risk was identified during the procurement process that identified Carillion as a service delivery contractor to (a) the operation of public services and (b) value for money of the potential effect of Carillion plc going into administration.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, , what risk was identified during the procurement process that identified Carillion as a service delivery supplier, to (a) the operation of public services and (b) value for money in the event of any strategic supplier to the Government going into administration.

Caroline Nokes: It is the responsibility of the Contracting Authority to ensure it is compliant with EU procurement legislation during any procurement process. Contracting Authorities will assess the risk of appointing any given supplier, and this will be tailored to the requirements of the specific procurement.

Corruption

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government plans to publish a new anti-corruption strategy?

Chris Skidmore: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Government Departments: Procurement

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the Government's direct cash spend in England on (a) general goods and services, (b) social care and (c) construction works was won by firms registered in England in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Caroline Nokes: Information on the nationality of suppliers is not routinely held centrally.However, figures for contracts won by firms with UK addresses were set out in HMG's Balance of Competences Service review in the summer of 2014:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-uk-and-eu-balance-of-competences-call-for-evidence-on-the-single-market-free-movement-of-services .This showed that UK firms won more than 95% of UK contracts advertised EU-wide, either by number or value.

Blood: Contamination

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will require investigation into allegations of cover-up as part of the inquiry into contaminated blood.

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the inquiry into blood contamination will include a panel of experts to assist the Chair of that inquiry.

Damian Green: I refer the Honourable Member to my Written Ministerial Statement of 3 November, in which I commit to making a further statement on the setting up of the inquiry before the end of this year.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Staff

Chris Ruane: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to improve the (a) physical and (b) mental well-being of all employed staff.

Tom Brake: The Parliamentary Health and Wellbeing Service (PHWS) support staff to help maintain and improve their physical and mental well-being.PHWS offer a number of services including:healthcare advice to improve fitness and wellbeingwellbeing classes on the Parliamentary Estate, including yoga, pilates and mindfulnessadvice and guidance for staff with disabilitiessupport to give up smoking plus dietary and lifestyle adviceaccess to physiotherapy services.The House also has a contract with Westminster Gym which provides employees, amongst others, to access to gym facilities and a range of classes and treatments.Wellbeing support is also provided and includes counselling by Wellbeing Practitioners. Support, advice and guidance is also provided to help with issues such as:Mental HealthProblems at home or workIll health or ill health of loved onesFinancial difficulties and debtBereavementAlcohol and Drug issuesA minor treatment clinic is located in the Palace of Westminster. The Clinical Nurse Adviser can provide advice and information about illness, injuries at work, lifestyle and wellbeing issues. The Clinical nurse is able to refer clients onto specialist agencies or in-house services where necessary. Minor treatments such as dressings, ear syringing, removal of stitches and blood pressure monitoring can take place at this clinic.The Service also runs Health & Wellbeing events. These are organised regularly during the parliamentary year and include an annual Wellbeing Day. This gives staff the opportunity to have an individual health check and obtain advice and guidance on health & wellbeing related issues.